


Let Your Heart Be Light

by JKing88



Category: Days of Our Lives
Genre: Complete, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Falling In Love, M/M, Sexual Content
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-20
Updated: 2018-12-25
Packaged: 2019-09-23 06:08:45
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 24,560
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17074844
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JKing88/pseuds/JKing88
Summary: November 2019: Will's facing a lonely holiday season with both exes in town and in new relationships. Brian's tired of his mother harassing him about finding a boyfriend. The solution? Become fake boyfriends!





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [crazy4Wilson](https://archiveofourown.org/users/crazy4Wilson/gifts).



  **November 28, 2019**

Will Horton plopped onto a lumpy, uncomfortable hospital bed, wincing at the crinkling of the protective paper covering. He held his left hand over his head the way the exasperated nurses instructed moments before when they led him into his small cubby-hole of a room.

This was another setback in the long year of setbacks in Will's life.

Will had spent almost the entire year alone, aside from Arianna. He foolishly left a wonderful man like Paul. Lost what little nostalgic love he had for Sonny to Leo.

Without either man, Will realized how alone he truly was. With no boyfriend, Will didn't have much companionship. Chad and Abigail left Salem. Gabi left town in a huff after her schemes blew up in her face. Neither parent lived nearby. He didn't go into the office often, preferring to work at home. Outside of Marlena, Will didn't talk to many people besides his daughter.

It left a lot of time spent home, alone. With no dates to go on, friends to go out with, or things to do, Will ended up saving quite a lot of money. Money he used to buy him and Ari their own home. It wasn't much. Small, older, and in need of updating but Will loved it.

It required a few more articles in the paper every week, freelance writing, and side IT work every now and again to afford but it was worth it. Will never had one steady, stable home growing up. If he couldn't give Ari a solid relationship with either of her other parents, the least he could give her was this.

After moving in, Will got into the habit of binge-watching the Food Network at night before falling asleep. One night when he couldn't sleep, bemoaning how alone, miserable, and pathetic he was, and midway through a Holiday Baking Marathon, Will got inspired.

It couldn't be that hard to make a cake, could it?

A few hours later, with powdered sugar on his nose (when had he even bought powdered sugar, anyway?) Will finished. It was a little misshapen and the frosting was a bit of a mess but Will felt proud of himself.

He was even prouder when it tasted much better than it looked.

One cake became a tray of cookies became a loaf of bread and before Will knew it, he became a competent baker. Not formally trained and a little rustic but it brought him a lot of joy. It wasn't like when he failed at cooking dinner. Baking was science and Will had always excelled at that.

It kept his mind off how lonely he was when he was mixing, kneading, and sifting. Plus, it gave him and Ari something to do together besides playing toys. Ari loved putting on her own little apron, standing on a chair, and pouring all their ingredients in a big bowl. Throwing flour at each other and laughing and laughing while they waited for their newest creation to bake.

It also meant Will had to spend more time working out to keep the baked treats from nesting on his hips.

Unfortunately, it gave Will some delusions of grandeur. Bored since Ari was spending Thanksgiving with Sonny and Leo, a tradeoff for Will to get her for Christmas, Will decided to bake a pie to take to Marlena's for Thanksgiving.

While peeling and slicing apples, Will answered his phone and put it on speaker.

"Hello?" Will asked, distracted.

"Hello, sweetheart," Marlena greeted. "I wanted to remind you to come around three today."

"Yeah, I remember," Will said, wiping his forehead with the back of his hand. "I'm working on a pie, now."

"It still boggles my mind picturing you baking," Marlena teased. "Of course, you've never let me taste anything so…"

She trailed off with a laugh while Will rolled his eyes.

"You wait and see, Grandma."

Marlena started talking about everything she prepared for dinner and who was coming. Will tuned her out. He spoke to her almost every day and they'd already been over this but he wasn't going to stop her. If nothing else he enjoyed the tone of her voice, so happy and carefree.

"And, of course, John was so happy to get a call from Paul this morning! He's coming to visit during Christmas. John's so excited to see him again and to finally meet his boyfriend. I'm rather –,"

"Ow," Will hissed when his knife skittered to the side, slicing across the middle finger of his left hand. For a few seconds, nothing happened. Then blood started pouring out of the wound, all over Will's apples, countertop, and floor as he rushed to grab a wad of paper towels.

"Will? Are you alright – oh, oh, sweetheart, I'm sorry. I thought you knew Paul had a boyfriend. You left him, after all. But I –,"

Will cut her off with a short, "gotta go, Grandma. I've got a situation here."

Which was how Will found himself in a hospital, alone and hungry on Thanksgiving, bleeding finger held over his heart, scrolling through his phone with his right hand, social media stalking his ex.

It was painful enough to know Sonny left him for a prostitute. It was another thing to see Paul blissfully happy with someone better suited for him than Will. Someone handsome and successful and worldly, like Paul.

In a little less than a month, Will would get to see them up close and personal too. Two happy couples, together during the holidays while Will was alone and pathetic. Where everyone in Will's family would ask why he didn't have a boyfriend. Or, even worse, assume Will was still hung up on Paul or Sonny. Or even both of them and everyone would see him around them with their new perfect boyfriends while Will was alone.

It wasn't like Salem was lacking in gay men but the options were limited. Most men were only interested in Will physically and at first, Will was fine with that. He never got to be wild and free when he first came out. But, after a few months, and seeing Sonny and Leo get closer and closer, Will wanted something a little more. Unfortunately, Will couldn't seem to find that. Men either ran from his extensive family history, when they found out he had a daughter, or from Will himself.

Will once had men vying for a relationship with him. Now, he can barely get a date that didn't consist of ripping his pants off five minutes into it.

Will wasn't under any delusions about himself. He was stupid and reckless and leaped before he looked. But he did love Paul and Sonny once. In different ways, for different reasons, at different times and while he was glad they were happy, he was selfish enough to realize he was jealous and envious.

He wasn't enough for Sonny. He was too much for Paul. Will just wanted someone that fit.

It also hurt to know both Paul and Sonny seemed to thrive without him in their lives.

Outside his small cordoned off room, nothing more than a cubicle with a curtain pulled across, Will heard voices.

"Yes, Doctor, I pulled the patient's chart. Trust me, we're gonna need you to handle his treatment, not a nurse."

"Why?" a man's voice answered, something vaguely familiar to Will but he couldn't remember where he heard it before.

"Trust me, Dr. Brady's gonna want the best care for this one."

The crinkle of the curtain sliding open made Will toss his phone aside.

A dark-haired man, with his head bowed over a tablet, said, "looks like you've got a hefty cut. Let me take a…look."

He lifted his head and Will sighed.

"Brian, I didn't know you worked here."

Brian James – the same man who spent months pining over Sonny years before – cleared his throat before stepping into the room and closing the curtain behind him.

"A few weeks, now. I started my residency in October."

"Congratulations," Will offered with a small, tense smile.

"Thanks," Brian replied, glancing between Will and his tablet.

While Brian read through Will's rather extensive chart, Will examined Brian. A doctor's jacket suited him. His hair was slicked and combed just right, facial hair arranged with a perfect five o'clock shadow. He even made his ugly, sensible black shoes look attractive.

Meanwhile, Will wore a raggedy old shirt and jeans with bloodstains everywhere.

He sighed again.

"I've treated 90 year-olds with smaller files than you," Brian commented, closing the protective cover on his tablet.

Will gave him a dry look before saying, "most of those things happened before I was 10."

Brian flashed Will a bright grin as he slipped on a pair of gloves.

"I don't know. The last eight or so years are pretty interesting. Now, let me take a look at your hand."

Brian grabbed Will's wrist with a surprisingly gentle touch and lowered it to eye-level. He unwrapped the red-soaked wad of cotton the nurse hastily wound around Will's finger.

Brian winced a bit when he saw the jagged cut. It stretched from the edge of Will's fingernail all the way past his second knuckle.

"It's not too deep," Brian assessed while bending Will's finger forward and back. "But, you'll need some stitches."

"Going to get a nurse to do your grunt work, now?" Will wondered, pulling his eyes away from his own bloody finger. He didn't have a problem with blood but it was beginning to make him queasy all the same.

Brian glanced at Will, holding his gaze. They were closer than the other realized, faces only a few feet apart.

They both also never realized how blue the eyes of the other were. Not that either man spent much time assessing the other when they were younger, at least, not this way.

It took Brian a few seconds to respond, mouth open, completely distracted by Will, before closing his eyes and shaking his head.

"No, I can take care of this myself. As long as you behave, that is."

"Well, we both know I have problems with that."

The two smiled at one another for a few seconds before they looked away with sheepish laughs.

Brian turned around to get set up, gathering all his supplies while Will kicked his feet against the bed. Sneaking looks at Brian every few seconds, certain this was the longest the two had ever spent in each other's company alone.

Within a few minutes, Brian rolled a stool over to Will's side as well as a small metal table.

He grabbed Will's hand, placing it on the table. He cleaned Will up, spreading a numbing agent, and distracting him while prepping the stitches.

"What were you doing, anyway? I'm pretty sure fingers aren't on a traditional Thanksgiving menu."

"Haha," Will replied as sarcastically as he could. "I was slicing apples for a pie and my hand slipped."

"A pie?" Brian asked. He looked at Will with a half-smile, "since when do you cook?"

"I don't cook," Will said with a sniff, nose in the air. "I bake."

"Is that so?" Brian asked, slipping the first bit of thread into Will's finger.

"Yeah, it's a recent thing. I didn't think I'd be any good at it but I like to think I am. Ari loves everything I make."

"Ari?" Brian wondered.

"My daughter, Arianna. She's six, now."

"Wow," Brian acknowledged. "It has been a while since we've seen each other."

"A lot's happened, yeah."

The last time they'd seen one another Gabi was pregnant and Brian was chasing after Sonny.

"I don't know," Brian said, flickering his eyes up to meet Will's. "I don't know if I would eat anything you made. I remember some horror stories I heard around town about your experiments in the kitchen."

"Why does everyone keep saying that? I totally know how to bake. The Food Network taught me," Will said with a loud huff.

"That's reassuring."

"Oh, you just see," Will threatened. "I am gonna bake you the best damn dessert you've ever had."

"Are you?" Brian asked with a wide grin, leaning away from Will.

"You are going to literally and figuratively eat your words."

"How are you gonna manage that with only one hand?"

Brian gestured to Will's finger which he finished stitching without Will even realizing.

"Wow," Will lifted his hand up, admiring the perfect stitching. "I didn't even feel anything."

"That's sort of the point," Brian responded. "Now, about this dessert I'm getting. You taking requests?"

"I don't know," Will sat up straighter. "What do you have in mind?"

Before Brian could answer the curtain swished open again and Kayla Brady entered with a frazzled look in her eyes.

"Will," Kayla panted, skidding to a stop near him and Brian. "Someone told me you were here. What happened? Are you alright?"

"Fine," Will responded. With a nod toward Brian, he added, "Dr. James here stitched me back together in no time."

Kayla grabbed Will's hand, looking over Brian's work with a sigh.

"Looks good, Doctor," she acknowledged, letting go of Will's hand and nodding at Brian.

"Thank you," Brian responded, sitting up straighter in his superior's presence.

"Not a bad bedside manner either," Will quipped.

Brian rolled his eyes but couldn't stop a smile from spreading across his face.

Kayla looked between the two of them with a suspicious and knowing look in her eyes.

"I see," she nodded, stepping back toward the curtain. "Well, I'm glad you're alright, Will. Doctor, thank you for looking after my nephew."

"You're welcome. It was my pleasure," Brian responded, ignoring Will's snicker.

"I bet it was," Kayla mumbled before leaving.

Brian let out a deep breath and visibly relaxed.

"Sorry," he said as he grabbed some bandaging and started wrapping Will's fingers. "Still kind of nervous around the big boss."

"Aunt Kayla?" Will asked with an exaggerated frown. "But, she's like the nicest, sweetest person ever, outside of my grandma Marlena."

"Wait, Grandma Marlena?" Brian looked away from Will's hand. "As in Marlena Evans, as in Dr. Marlena Evans, as in head of the psychiatric department?"

"Yeah," Will replied with a sharp nod. "That's her."

"You're related to the two most powerful women in this hospital?"

"Uh-huh," Will nodded again, oblivious to Brian's wide-eyed expression. "Why? Want me to put in a good word?"

"Would you – uh – wait, no, no. You don't need to do that."

"Well, I'm going to Marlena's today for Thanksgiving anyway. Trust me, she'll notice my mutilated hand. She notices if I have a single hair out of place."

"Will, really, you don't have to say anything."

"Well, tough, I'm doing it anyway."

Brian let out a mix of a laugh and a sigh.

"Now, see, this is how I remember you."

"Strong-willed? Helpful? Kind?"

"Annoying," Brian answered with a blinding white grin.

"And this is how I remember you," Will grumbled.

Brian raised his brows and looked at Will expectantly.

"An asshole," Will quipped.

Brian shook his head before finishing up with Will's finger. He did his best to make it so Will still had some mobility in his left hand.

"You said you slipped and cut yourself," Brian remarked. "Are you sloppy with knives or just clumsy?"

"Neither," Will defended, head hanging low so all Brian could see of him was the top of his head. "I was on the phone and my grandma mentioned my ex was bringing a new boyfriend for Christmas."

"…Sonny?" Brian guessed in what he hoped was a nonchalant tone.

"No," Will rolled his eyes. "I see enough of Sonny and Leo to last me a lifetime. I don't care about that."

"Weren't you and Sonny married at one point?" Brian interjected before Will could start speaking again.

"A long time ago," Will lifted his head finally. "There was a lot of drama and I ruined a lot of things. Then there was a whole thing where everyone thought I died and I had amnesia and well, I wanted a divorce. Then about a year later we tried again and then Sonny ruined it. Hell, maybe I should have let you have him all those years ago. It would have saved me a lot of grief."

"Huh," Brian remarked.

In truth, he hadn't thought about Sonny Kiriakis in years. Even when he moved back to Salem, besides noticing Sonny's place of business was gone, Brian didn't really care.

He was a grown man, now, not an insecure college kid who hid under a veil of confidence. He moved on a long time ago.

"Anyway," Will continued, "the ex I'm talking about is, well, he was Sonny's ex first. We slept together when I was married to Sonny, hence the drama. Then when I came back to town with amnesia I only wanted Paul and we had this perfect relationship. I got my memories back and ruined that for Sonny and that didn't work out."

"I see," Brian had a hard time following along but tried his best.

"No, you don't," Will admitted with an amused smile. "It's rather Shakespearean, I know. All you need to know is Paul is seriously perfect. Like the perfect boyfriend, the perfect friend, the perfect son, the perfect employee, the perfect everything and anything. Everything about him was perfect and I'm me."

Will gestured to himself with his right hand.

"I am the opposite of perfect. I am so far removed from perfect we might as well be in different hemispheres. Well, you know. But Paul was my piece of perfect and I couldn't handle it. I ruin things. That's what I do. And that's what I did. And I know it was probably the right decision because I was never going to be what Paul deserved or needed. I've accepted that. I've moved on and I'm glad he has too. But I already have to see Sonny and stupid Leo together. I don't need to see Perfect Paul and his Perfect Boyfriend together too. And I will see them because Paul's father is married to Marlena.

"And you didn't need to hear all that. Oh my god, shut up, Will."

Will clamped his lips together, face red, looking anywhere but at Brian.

"I think you're selling yourself short, there," Brian said as he pushed his stool away and stood up. He took off his gloves, methodically washing his hands.

Much like Will, Brian didn't know what compelled him to open up to a person he didn't have the greatest history with but he couldn't stop himself. There was something about Will's vulnerability that tugged at places in Brian he hadn't felt in a long time.

"There was a reason I was so threatened by you before," Brian admitted. "I saw how much of a catch you were and I did everything I could to hack away at it, make your attractive qualities undesirable in Sonny's eyes."

Brian washed his hands and turned to face Will head on.

"So, maybe it's not that he's too perfect. Maybe he's just not perfect for you."

Will's eyes were wide and glimmering under the fluorescent hospital lighting. Pink mouth agape, kicking his legs like a child in his faded, blood-spattered clothes and the whole thing should have been ridiculous but Brian found it oddly charming.

He hadn't lied before. He saw Will's appeal as clear as day. He understood perfectly well why Sonny was so drawn to Will. Will, with his insecurities and vulnerability. Will, so very like a sponge who soaked in everything around him, the good and the bad, storing it away until someone felt like ringing him out. Will, with his pretty face and toned body, who knew everyone and always tried to help. Who Brian knew was looking for guidance and reassurance, someone to tell him everything would always be okay.

But that wasn't Brian. Brian didn't want to play mentor. He didn't want to see someone struggle to accept who they were. He didn't want to witness the back and forth, the struggle, the familial bonds pushing and breaking.

Brian had done that himself. He didn't need to see someone else go through it too.

Perhaps it wasn't fair to take it out on Will. To go after what he knew Will wanted but Brian wasn't one to sit around and wait or let someone else take what he wanted.

"Right," Will said, clearing his throat so his next words weren't so shaky. "Thanks. About seven years too late, but thanks."

"Always so gracious," Brian muttered.

"So," Will said once Brian began cleaning his station up. "Any Thanksgiving plans?"

"You're looking at it. I just started my shift."

"You don't have any family in the area or anything?"

"Nope," Brian said with a shrug. "My family is in Ohio."

"Oh," Will replied. He'd never lived anywhere without at least some family nearby.

"Yeah, my mom nagged me to get today off and go visit her."

"Maybe you should have."

"Trust me, a little of my mother goes a long way."

Will let out a loud snort which caused Brian to laugh.

"Probably not in the same way yours does," Brian acknowledged. "She doesn't like the idea of me being back in Salem."

"Can't blame her for that."

"No," Brian agreed. "But, she's always on my case about something. Being a doctor isn't enough. She thinks I need to settle down with a nice boy and start thinking about my future. Since becoming a doctor isn't enough."

"Yeah, I don't have those kinds of problems with my mom," Will agreed. "Mine are more of the opposite. Where I nag her about settling down with all her kids and not off destroying Tokyo."

Brian chuckled.

"At least, I have my stepdad around to reel her in sometimes."

Will let out a loud cackle.

"Yeah, the day my stepdad does anything to reel my mother in…"

Will trailed off when he noticed Brian staring at him while leaning against the sink behind him.

"What?" Will asked with a frown and a little wrinkle to his nose.

"Nothing," Brian shook his head while licking his lips. When Will still looked skeptical, Brian crossed his arms, cheeks a little red, "you should laugh more. I don't think I've ever heard it before today. It's nice."

"Oh," the red in Will's cheeks put Brian's to shame. "Thank you."

Brian nodded before pulling out a prescription pad and scribbling on it.

"Antibiotics to prevent any infections," Brian explained when he handed it to Will. "You should come back in a few weeks to get the stitches out. Keep the bandage on but let it breathe a little bit every day too."

"Right," Will said, biting his lower lip. "Thank you, you know, for everything."

"Sure," Brian said, loitering in the room longer than necessary.

He only left when his phone buzzed and he said, "I've gotta go."

"It was nice seeing you again," Will said, hopping off the bed.

"As weird as that is to hear from you, thank you."

"Oh, shut up," Will laughed. "Just be glad I'm not lying to be polite."

"You know how to be polite?"

"Would you get out of here?" Will half huffed, half laughed.

"I'm going. I'm going," Brian said, half in the cubicle and half out. "Oh, and I like chocolate. I have high hopes for this dessert you're making me. Don't disappoint me."

When Brian walked away, Will wiggled in his spot for a few seconds, big, dumb smile on his face and a fluttery feeling in his stomach.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "To the beginning of a beautiful fake relationship," said Will

By the time Will got home from the hospital, took a shower with his left hand high in the air to avoid the water, and got to Marlena's, everyone else had already eaten. Will allowed Marlena and Belle to baby him when they saw his injury. Letting them make him a plate, cut his food, and insist on getting him anything he needed.

True to his word, Will went on and on about the wonderful doctor that treated him. How he did such a fantastic job on the stitches, how he distracted Will the whole time, and he didn't feel a thing. How knowledgeable and kind and he went a little overboard on the handsome bit if the twin smiles on Marlena and Belle's faces were anything to go on.

When he got back home, though, Will couldn't stop the sigh that puffed out of him when he came into an empty house. His home wasn't huge but without Ari around to fill it with sound, it was rather lonely.

Needing a distraction, Will looked up a new recipe to try, Brian at the forefront of his mind.

Will knew the two had never gotten along before. Brian was a little too condescending in his confidence and Will a little too defensive in his insecurities. Sonny didn't help matters any, seeming to relish pitting the two against one another.

Will had never had a single civil conversation with Brian after their initial meeting. Thinking about it caused Will to roll his eyes. To think he introduced Sonny and Brian, proud of himself for making a new friend, which started the whole mess.

Then again, Brian was child's play compared to the next few years of their lives. Which brought Will's mood down again.

How sad was Will? A chance encounter with a man that used to hate him was the most companionship Will had had outside of his family in months.

After finding a recipe he had all the ingredients for, and with nothing better to do, Will got to work.

It took longer than usual, what with the lack of two fully functioning hands, but Will finished. With a glance at the clock, Will grabbed a coat and his dessert. Brian's shift couldn't be over yet.

* * *

Will thanked the nurse walking with him again as she led him to a lounge on the fourth floor of the hospital. Being a Brady and a Horton had its privileges. One flash of a smile and a name drop and everyone flocked to help him.

He paused inside the doorway when he saw Brian on the couch, phone held in front of him, facetiming someone. Will took a few seconds to admire Brian's long legs stretched out in front of him before shaking his head.

Will adjusted his grip on his pie tin, injured finger throbbing, ready to knock when he overheard Brian's conversation.

"Yeah, Mom, I told you. I'm fine working on Thanksgiving. Of course, I miss you and Jacob and everyone else. Mom, I promise. Look, why would I want today off when there are so many others that have family's they want to be with? Yes, I want to be with you. You know that wasn't what I meant. Mom, Mom, come on. And no, I'm not looking for a boyfriend. I just settled here again. I promise I'll reach out to some old friends but I'm not in the market for – Mom, please."

Will stifled a laugh as his impulsive nature took over. With sudden confidence, Will waltzed into the room, put his pie on the side table next to the couch, and said in a loud, clear voice, "Bri-Bri, there you are!"

Brian startled when Will threw himself at his side, wrapping him in a tight hug.

"I know you said to wait until you got off shift but I couldn't wait any longer. I missed you too much."

"Uh…" Brian replied with a frown when his mother started squawking from his phone.

"Brian, who is this?" the woman asked.

"Uh…"

"Oh my goodness, I'm so, so sorry," Will gushed, practically sitting in Brian's lap and turning to face the phone. "I didn't want us to meet this way."

"Meet?" an attractive, dark-haired woman in her 50's asked. She blinked a few times before breaking into a blinding grin. "Brian, is this the reason you've been hedging all my questions about going out and meeting men?"

"Uh…"

"Yes," Will answered, snuggling close to Brian's side. "I'm Brian's boyfriend, Will Horton. Pleasure to meet you, Ma'am."

"Oh, well, aren't you charming," the woman gushed. She looked over her shoulder, yelling, "Jacob, you'll never believe it! Brian has a boyfriend!"

The woman looked at Will again before cooing, "and he's so handsome. Brian, how could you keep him hidden from me?"

"Uh…" Brian snapped out of his shock, putting his arm around Will's shoulders, "I wanted to surprise you when you visited for Christmas."

"Oh, this is perfect," the woman rambled, phone wobbling. "I have to tell everyone. Goodness, look how beautiful you two look together. I can't tell you how happy I am. This is amazing. I can't believe you didn't tell me, though. Letting me go on and on about you needing someone and you were hiding this gorgeous, young thing from me."

Will beamed at Brian, squishing their cheeks together.

"Oh, you are too precious," the woman sighed before saying her goodbyes.

"I think that got her off your back for a while," Will replied when Brian tossed his phone on the couch.

"Why did you do that?" Brian asked, dislodging Will's admittedly rather comfortable weight off him.

"You said she wouldn't stop bothering you," Will shrugged. "I figured this way you can make her happy."

"By lying to her?"

"It's not hurting anyone," Will defended. "Look how happy she was!"

"What's she going to do when she gets here next month?" Brian asked, running his hands through his hair and making a mess of it.

"Meet me," Will knocked Brian's hands aside and tamed his wild locks. "Look, she and your stepdad, Jacob I'm assuming, will meet me. We can fake a few smiles and keep her happy. She'll go back to Ohio and you can keep our fake relationship going for a while and, whenever you find someone for real, stage a fake breakup."

"You've given this an awful lot of thought," Brian responded with a frown.

"I watch a lot of Hallmark movies," Will shrugged.

"But, Will, what's going to happen if she wants to meet your family? Or we're out in public? How are we going to fake a relationship if no one in Salem thinks we're in a relationship?"

"So, we hang out a few times in public and tell people we're together. This is ideal for both of us. You're too busy to find a relationship. I'm a big loser that no one wants. You can get your mom off your back and my exes can think I'm not as pathetic as I am."

"What?" Brian asked, hand on Will's wrist. "What are talking about? Loser and pathetic, what is that?"

"I'm aware of my faults. You pointed them out to me a long time ago. But this is a good opportunity."

"Will, you're not a –,"

"We got along today, right? Surprising considering our past. This could work."

"So, you want to fake dating to keep my mom happy and to," Brian made a rolling motion with his hands, gesturing for Will to finish his thought.

"To make sure Sonny and Paul don't think I'm a pathetic loser, yes."

"Why would they think that?"

"Because they have these perfect, great relationships and I'm all alone. I don't want to sit by myself this holiday season watching all these perfectly happy couples."

"Okay, yeah," Brian nodded. "But how is this going to work. We're gonna have to deceive a lot of people."

"It's not deceiving," Will rolled his eyes, turning on the couch so his knee was touching Brian's. "We hang out together; other people will think they're dates. We don't correct them."

Brian rubbed his forehead, eyes closed.

"This is ridiculous."

"Yeah," Will nodded with a grin. "But, your mom won't bother you all the time, now."

"She did look happy. And she's never gotten off a call that fast before."

"So…?" Will asked, eyes wide and vibrant, leaning in close to Brian's face.

Brian's eyes lingered on Will, flickering to his pink lips several times, before sighing.

"So, will you be my fake boyfriend?"

"I thought you'd never ask," Will teased. The two smiled at one another before Will remembered. "Oh, wait, I made you something."

Will leaned over to get his beautifully decorated German chocolate pie.

"Ta-da," Will said as he brandished the pie in Brian's face.

"Oh, man, that looks good."

Will pulled out two forks.

"To the beginning of a beautiful fake relationship," Will said.

Brian clinked his fork against Will's before diving in.

Will was right. He did know how to bake.

* * *

The next day, around noon, Brian ambled up the walkway to Will's front door. He admired the mature shade trees, the colorful flowers near the front door, and even the collection of chalk drawings lining the driveway.

Brian rang the bell and less than ten seconds later Will answered the door.

"Hi," Will said, gesturing Brian inside.

Brian quirked a brow at Will holding a pair of bright pink socks in his hands.

"Oh, right," Will waved the socks in the air. "Come inside. You can hang your coat up in there."

Will gestured to a closet a few steps from the front door. Brian watched as Will walked another few steps to a laundry room and tossed the socks inside. In the coat closet, Brian smiled at several pink and purple jackets and coats hanging next to a few battered looking ones that must belong to Will.

"Nice place," Brian said once he closed the closet door and stepped closer to Will.

"Thanks," Will nodded, rolling forward and back on the balls of his feet.

"It wasn't exactly what I pictured when you invited me to your place."

"No?"

"I was thinking more of a swanky, modern apartment or something. Not an actual house that looks so…"

"Old?" Will guessed with a rueful grin.

"No," Brian shook his head. "Loved."

"Oh, thanks," Will beamed. "You want a tour?"

Will didn't wait for Brian to answer. It was rare Will got to show anyone around besides family member's or parents of Ari's friends.

Brian indulged Will, enjoying the proud, confident lilt to Will's tone as he explained each room.

Will's house wasn't huge, by any means, a little over 1500 square feet. There were three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a kitchen with just enough space, a dining room, an open living space, and a small den Will utilized as Ari's toy room. Complete with a laundry room, a two car garage, and a small screened in back porch.

Will was only able to afford it because it was on the outskirts of Salem and was in desperate need of updates. Everything was from the mid-90s and while still in working order, weren't exactly attractive. But, as Brian said, it looked loved and lived in. Will kept everything tidy and even though most of the furniture was second-hand, they were all clean.

"It took some getting used to, not being able to walk everywhere in a few minutes," Will said to Brian as they came in from the backyard (a small rectangular shape with a tree, some rose bushes, and enough grass for Ari to tire herself out in).

"But, it's Salem," Brian added, closing the back door behind him. "You can get anywhere in twenty minutes."

"Yep," Will agreed. "Plus, I've never lived in the suburbs before and it was still close enough for Ari to take the bus to school."

"I like it," Brian admitted and he actually did. While he was more a fan of modern and elegant, Will's house felt like a home.

"Well, you're about the first," Will laughed, going into the kitchen with Brian following. "My family thought I was crazy for buying it. They all wanted me to save up for something 'nicer'. Of course, by nicer, they meant something three times as much. And I don't make that much money. The down payment for this did come from a trust fund my stepdad made up for me during his first marriage to my mom. But, you know, I like it here. I can update over time."

"Will," Brian said, cutting him off with an amused tone of voice. "I'm agreeing with you. You can stop justifying it."

"Oh," Will let out a chuckle. "Sorry, like I said, I'm used to everyone thinking I'm nuts."

Will gave Brian an appraising glance before adding, "actually, the house is one of the reasons I struggled so much with coming out."

"What do you mean?"

"Growing up, I never got this," Will waved his hand around him. "A home. I had plenty of places I lived, apartments, condos, hell, even a few mansions. But, they didn't last long. I moved constantly, house to house, parent to parent, continent to continent. Normal kids fantasized about, I don't know, having every toy in the world. I liked to pretend I lived with my parents in a nice little house on a quiet street with a white picket fence and stability. When I realized that was never going to happen, I wanted it for myself. Wife, kids, picket fence, the whole clichéd thing. All my life I wanted to be normal and I couldn't reconcile wanting men with that."

Will shrugged, scratching at his bandaged fingers and giving Brian a cheeky smile.

"Of course, now, I've got the house and the kid and there are some days where I feel like I'm going to lose my mind if I don't gag on someone's dick, so I guess I figured it out in the end."

Brian let out a bark of surprised laughter as Will changed the subject.

"Can I get you something to drink before we get started? Water? Juice? Coffee? I can make a fancy one."

"Fancy one?" Brian wondered.

"Yeah," Will gestured to an espresso machine in the corner of the kitchen. "Paying for grownup things like a mortgage and insurance and all that crap is expensive. I save a lot of money making my own lattes and cappuccinos. You want one?"

"Sure, I'll take a latte," Brian answered, watching as Will hustled and bustled about the kitchen.

It was reminiscent of when Brian would spend hours at Common Grounds with Sonny. Except even then, Sonny always seemed calm and collected. Will, not so much, even now. His eyes took on a panicky sheen and he moved this way and that, body constantly in motion and fidgety. Not relaxing until he poured a heavy dollop of froth in a mug and placed it in front of Brian.

The look of absolute delight on Will's face when Brian said it was good shouldn't have warmed Brian's insides better than the latte.

But it did.

After Will made his own drink and sat next to Brian, they finally got down to the reason behind Brian's visit.

"So, fake dating," Brian said, hands wrapped around his Peppa Pig mug. "How is this going to work?"

"Well, for it to work we have to actually make people think we're a couple," Will pointed out. He took a sip out of his own Fancy Nancy mug. "So, things like going out in public, telling people we work with that we're seeing someone, that type of thing."

"Okay," Brian nodded. He knew some nosy nurses that would spread the news like wildfire.

"If we go to the Brady Pub together, I'm pretty sure all of Salem will know within a few hours," Will conceded. "Or, they'll at least know I was with a guy. That's pretty big news itself nowadays."

"Right," Brian almost forgot Will knew pretty much everyone in Salem. While looking down at his mug, and trying to figure out what a Peppa pig was, Brian asked, "what about your daughter? What are you gonna tell her?"

"Oh, yeah," Will deflated a bit, resting his chin on the top of his bandaged left hand. "Well, I don't want to lie to her but she also can't keep a secret to save her life."

"Kind of like you?" Brian teased, earning him a sharp glare.

"Yes," Will sniffed with no small amount of reluctance. "If anyone is going to blow this it's me or the mini-me. The one trait of my mother's I didn't inherit had to be her penchant for lying."

"How is this going to work if either one of you are going to accidentally give it away?"

"Look, I don't want her lying or figuring out schemes of her own. I have enough trouble with her mother's genes floating around her body let alone mine."

"Alright, so we tell her we're special friends or something. And we don't talk about the lie in front of her. If anyone asks her, she won't lie and we won't be lying either."

"But everyone knows, if I had a boyfriend, they'd have to be close to Ari."

"I can hang out with kids, you know?" Brian said with an eye roll. "I mean, I want to specialize in pediatrics. This'll give me a chance to practice interacting with children."

"Really? You do?"

"Yeah," Brian said a bit defensively. "I like kids and part of the reason I wanted to become a doctor was to make a difference in people's lives. Who better than children?"

Will stared at Brian for a few moments.

"What?" Brian asked defensively.

"Nothing," Will shook his head, face buried in his mug. Brian almost didn't hear his mumbled, "it just makes you even more attractive, is all."

Brian couldn't hold in a wide grin as he took a sip of his latte.

"Oh!" Will yelled out, head popping up. "I almost forgot, I made these for us."

He hopped off his stool and hurried into the kitchen. He returned with a plate of chocolate dipped biscotti, homemade and slightly rustic.

"Oh man," Brian groaned around a mouthful. "That's not even fair."

Will bounced up and down in place, pleased by the response. Brian was really the only person outside of Ari to ever taste his baking.

"You like?"

"Are you kidding?" Brian grabbed the whole plate and pulled them closer. "I don't know what you're planning on eating but these are mine, now."

After finishing one biscotti and starting another, swirling it in his latte, Brian asked, "seriously, you're really good at this. Why aren't you pursuing it?"

"What? Baking?"

"Yeah."

"I wouldn't even know how. I'm not formally trained or even have any clue what I'm doing. I just follow recipes."

"So? Everything you've given me has been so much better than anything I've had in any coffee shop or bakery."

"I just do it so I'm not bored," Will hedged, sitting back down.

"Well, you should think about it. I think you'd do awesome."

"Thanks," Will replied. "But I've been told several times I don't have a head for business. Or planning."

Brian scowled. He could imagine who would tell him something like that which reminded him.

"I think we might have a problem outside of you or your daughter opening your big mouths."

"What?"

"Sonny," Brian pointed out, swallowing another large bite of cookie.

"Oh, right, him," Will rolled his eyes and swiped a cookie, taking a huge bite out of it and chewing loudly.

Every now and again Will would forget Brian once hated him and wanted Sonny. He almost forgot how resentful and jealous he was of Brian once too.

Huh, seemed a pattern for Will, getting closer to men he once hated who wanted Sonny.

"I might have said some less than favorable things about you in the past," Brian admitted in a low voice. "I don't know if Sonny will believe we're a couple when he sees us, if he sees us."

"I don't know," Will sighed. "I have a tendency to sleep with men who loved Sonny first. He might believe it. I talk about it with my therapist all the time."

"I wasn't in love with Sonny," Brian said, ignoring the rest of Will's statement. At Will's look, Brian added, "I liked him. I liked his confidence and how he started his own business without his family's help. I liked him but love? Please, we never even got past a few kisses. I definitely wasn't in love with him."

"A few kisses?" Will sat up straighter and glared at him. "You told me you slept with him!"

"I implied," Brian admitted with a shrug. "Even with all your lying you were still all he wanted and I had to do something to make you doubt everything. It worked out in your favor in the end, didn't it?"

"That's debatable," Will said. After a few seconds he added, "and Sonny doesn't have his own business anymore. He works for his uncle like a good little lapdog."

"Really?" Brian frowned. "That doesn't sound anything like the Sonny I once knew."

"He's nothing like the Sonny you knew. Now, he works for Titan, wears suits all day, and is dating a prostitute. And not even like a romantic Pretty Woman type story. Just a middle-aged prostitute who Sonny thought he killed and then blackmailed him into being with him and fell in love along the way."

"…what?"

"Hey, I told you he's nothing like you remember."

"No kidding," Brian scoffed.

"But, yeah, he's still going to throw a fit when he finds out we're together. Even if we aren't really together, you know?"

"I can imagine, yeah. But, if Sonny's happy with his 'middle-aged prostitute' than he shouldn't care who you're dating."

"Right," Will acknowledged. Then he thought for a moment. "I can think of one other problem we might encounter."

"What?"

"We – okay, I – made your mom think we'd been together a lot longer than everyone in Salem is going to think."

"Right," Brian rubbed his forehead. "Well, I guess we try not to say when we got together. Your finger will be healed by Christmas. We can tell everyone we met again when I stitched you up. We just won't tell my mom when that was."

"Okay, makes sense," Will nodded. "I kind of helped my case yesterday with Grandma Marlena. I might have gone a little overboard talking you up. Your face might have been mentioned a few too many times."

Will flashed Brian a sheepish smile.

"My face?"

"Don't start with me."

"I didn't say anything."

Will reached over to nudge Brian in the side only he deflected it. The two mock fought for a few seconds before Will got the upper hand. He gave Brian a sharp pinch to the side. It didn't do much since Brian didn't have any extra skin to grab, just miles of abdominal muscles.

Brian laughed, smug smirk on his face.

"Okay, so we met at the hospital, we connected, now, we're together. Anything else we need to agree to?"

"Who asked who out?" Will wondered. "We have to keep our stories straight. That's something that never works out in Hallmark movies. They trip up on the details."

Brian gave it some thought before deciding.

"You brought me dessert late after I stitched you up and I asked you out."

"How did you ask me out?" Will asked with his brows quirked and his lips pressed together.

"I'd say something about how you bringing me the best pie I've ever had in the middle of the night, on a holiday most people spend with their families and you knew I'd spend alone, was the sweetest gesture anyone's ever done for me. And I'd ask if I could see you again."

"And what did I say?" Will wondered, cheeks rosy.

"You said yes and kissed my cheek," Brian decided. "And then you couldn't wait to bake for me again. So, here I am."

"Here you are," Will agreed. Secretly wishing the story was true.

The two ate the cookies in silence, the only sound the crunch of their chewing and the occasional slurp when Will took a drink.

"Can I ask you something?" Will wondered as Brian started in on his third biscotti.

"Hmm?" Brian responded, focused on dipping his cookie in his coffee for the perfect amount of time.

"Why don't you have a boyfriend?" At Brian's quirked brow, Will explained, "if your mom's worried about it so much, why don't you find one? Or, a real one, I mean, it's not like you need a fake boyfriend. You're a doctor who looks like a model. I'm sure you have your pick of men."

Brian shrugged while chewing. He took a large swallow before answering.

"It's not that I can't find one. I just can't find one that understands my schedule. I just started my residency after years of hard work. My shifts are insane. I don't get out much on my days off. The only people I interact with are my coworkers. It's hard to find anyone willing to put up with all of that. And I guess I haven't found anyone that makes me want to make an effort to start a relationship.

"Which my mother doesn't understand at all. She got remarried a few years ago and now she's obsessed with finding someone who makes me as happy as my stepdad makes her."

"Oh," Will nodded. "Makes sense."

He couldn't imagine someone like Brian struggling to find a man, after all. It didn't sound like Brian struggled at all. He just hadn't found anyone worthwhile.

"What about you?" Brian asked once Will grew quiet. "Why don't you have a boyfriend?"

Will snorted, picking up his mug and holding it close to his face.

"Sort of the opposite of you, I guess. All I seem to find are men that want to sleep with me and have no interest in anything else. I mean, I'm kind of a horrible boyfriend anyway. My track record is – well – terrible. But, if I could find someone who didn't just want in my pants, I'd be all over that."

"That's –," Brian struggled to find the right words. "Surprising."

After seeing the expression on Will's face, Brian added, "Surprising that you're struggling at all. You're young and hot. You haven't even irritated me and we've been chatting for a while. Considering how annoying you used to be, this is either some Twilight Zone bullshit or you've grown up. And I bet you're not that bad of a boyfriend."

"Brian," Will said with a self-deprecating smile, "I've had two serious relationships and I cheated on them both. Trust me, I'm awful. Even if I wasn't, I've got a lot of baggage no one wants to deal with. It's fine. I think spending all this time out of a relationship has been good for me. But, I don't need anyone else seeing how pathetic I am during the holidays."

"Right," Brian nodded. He wasn't sure if he believed Will or not, though. Deep down, Brian was certain Will was self-sabotaging, seeing what he wanted to see in men, and wasn't actually out of options.

"If you want," Will offered a few moments later, "you can stay for dinner. Ari's supposed to be home soon. I was gonna order a pizza while we baked."

"What are you baking?"

"We're starting a gingerbread house," Will explained. "I'm pretty nervous. It might be the most challenging thing I've done yet. But Ari's really excited and she loves helping me in the kitchen."

"If you want me to stay, I'll stay," Brian offered.

"You don't have to," Will said. "I mean, we're only fake dating. You probably don't want to spend your day off with us anyway. You can leave after meeting Ari and it'll be –,"

"Will," Brian said loud and firm, "shut up."

Will held Brian's gaze, the two simply staring at one another for several long moments. Trying to decipher what hidden emotions were behind the other's eye.

_Ding dong_

The doorbell startled them both.

"That's probably Sonny with Ari," Will explained, standing up and tugging at the bottom of his shirt. "I don't know if you want to stay here or answer the door with me. I mean, Leo will be leaning against their car with this stupid smirk on his face. Not that that's important. I just meant that –,"

"Will," Brian stood up and covered Will's mouth with one finger. "Shut up."

"Right," Will said, shaking his head and walking toward the door. "You know, I'm not gonna let you get away with that for long."

"Hmm," Brian mused as he followed Will but headed toward the front window. He opened the curtain enough to look outside.

Sure enough, a middle-aged man was leaning against an expensive car with the world's most satisfied smirk on his face.

Brian didn't see the appeal, especially over Will.

_Ding dong_

"I'm right here," Will grumbled when he opened the door. "You couldn't have waited a few more seconds?"

"We're on a tight schedule," Sonny sniffed, shoving Ari's stuffed animal in Will's arms as Ari wound her arms around Will's waist.

"Daddy! I missed you and," Ari gasped. "You have an owie!"

"Oh, yeah," Will looked down at his bandaged fingers. "I had to get some stitches but I'm okay. In fact, I think it's the best trip I've ever had at the hospital."

Will glanced over his shoulder and winked at Brian.

From Brian's position at the curtain, Sonny couldn't see him. But Leo could. Brian saw the exact moment Leo noticed him. His posture changed, deep lines creasing his forehead as he stared at Brian.

Sonny looked past Will's shoulder but all he could see was two mugs out on the kitchen counter. For a few moments, he gazed at the mugs before shaking his head.

"Leo and I have an important dinner to attend," Sonny said, straightening the lapel of his suit jacket.

"Uh-huh," Will blatantly rolled his eyes and made a shooing motion. "Ari, tell Sonny goodbye."

"Bye, Daddy," Ari said from her position clinging to Will's side.

Will closed the door on Sonny so they couldn't hear all of his response. Not that Ari seemed to care, she just spotted Brian.

"Daddy, who's that?" Ari asked, pointing right at Brian.

Brian peeled himself away from the window in time to watch Leo gesturing toward him and Sonny spinning on his heels.

"Ari, baby, this is Daddy's friend, Brian," Will explained, smoothing out her long hair and running his hands over her shoulders. "Brian, this is my daughter, Arianna."

"Hi," Ari said leaning into Will's forearm.

Brian got on one knee and held his hand out.

"Nice to meet you," Brian said when Ari put her tiny little hand in his. "You know, I used to know your dad before you were even born."

"Really?" Ari asked with wide eyes. She glanced up at Will for confirmation.

"Yep," Will said, the sight of his daughter holding Brian's hand doing strange things to his tummy. "Brian took care of my booboo last night."

"Did he kiss it better?" Ari wondered with all the naivety and innocence of six-year-old.

Brian let go of Ari's hand to grab Will's.

"Maybe we can do it together."

Ari nodded enthusiastically before her and Brian both kissed Will's left hand.

"All better," Will said, ignoring the wobble in his voice.

"Ari," Brian addressed her with a small smile. "Your dad here told me you were baking gingerbread, tonight. You know, that's my favorite thing about the holidays. And I was wondering if you'd let me help you?"

"Hmm," Ari tapped her chin, pretending to think. "I guess. But you have to wear an apron and promise to listen to Daddy. Or else we can't be in the kitchen."

"Deal," Brian promised, glancing up at Will with an amused smile.

* * *

Hours later, with flour in their hair, the smell of gingerbread wafting through the house, and their cheeks hurting from so much laughter, Brian and Will collapsed on the sofa, elbows brushing.

"I hope after all that effort, everything turns out," Will said with a soft sigh.

"It will. How could it not? That dough tasted amazing."

"Well, thanks, you and Ari did most of the work."

"We ate most of the batter, you mean," Brian pointed out.

That was one of his favorite parts of the evening. Will's indignant squawk every time he caught Ari or Brian with their hand in the mixing bowl, threatening them with a spatula, everyone knowing he'd never get near them.

"You know, now you have to come back tomorrow to assemble and decorate," Will told Brian.

Tonight they baked everything but they needed it to dry to truly make their house a masterpiece.

"I've got tomorrow off too," Brian admitted.

Even if he didn't, he'd find a way to make it. Tonight with Will and Ari was the most fun he'd had in a long, long time.

He even had the pictures to prove it.

"Actually," Brian pulled his phone out of his pocket and opened up his Instagram page. "You know what would really sell this whole fake relationship thing?"

"Hmm?" Will asked, moving even closer to Brian, so the two were pressed together.

"This," Brian said as he posted several photos of him, Will, and Ari throughout their night.

Pictures of Will with a shocked expression after Ari threw a handful of flour in his face. Several of Ari, gingerbread dough all around her lips and stuck in her gap-toothed smile. Even a selfie of him and Will, standing close and way too comfortable after only a day of re-acquaintance, matching grins, and the one proceeding it where Will dabbed some dough on Brian's cheek with a precious, too-innocent smile.

Brian posted them all, tagging Will in every single one. After following Brian, Will reposted them. There weren't any hashtags to go with them but the message seemed pretty clear. Anyone who followed either of them would get the hint, especially Brian's mom, Sonny, and Paul.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Will and Brian engage in some holiday activities and don't want to admit to some newfound feelings

A few weeks later, found Will swinging Ari's mitten-covered hand while they walked into the hospital. In his other hand, Will held a bag full of goodies for Brian. A few new recipes he tried out and wanted to see what Brian thought. It also gave him a reason to see Brian in the hospital. Only part of that was to continue the idea of their fake relationship. The other part was because Will missed Brian. They hadn't seen each other in a few days and Will realized he liked having Brian around.

Will didn't know what to do with that feeling so he buried it deep down. They were only pretending to be a couple, no matter how real it felt at times.

"There he is," Ari gushed as they walked off the elevator. She pointed toward Brian in his white coat, chatting with a nurse. She let go of Will's hand and ran toward Brian, knocking into his knees as she yelled his name several times.

"Hey, squirt," Brian said, hefting her into his arms and kissing her frosty cheek. "What are you doing here?"

"We brought you a present," Ari said once Will joined them a few moments later.

"Hey," Will handed Brian the bag and immediately shoved his hands in his coat pockets. The sight of Brian holding his daughter made his heart feel like someone caught it in their fist and squeezed.

"Hi," Brian leaned over and kissed Will's cheek as well without thinking. The two of them ignoring the sudden pounding in their chests. He put Ari down and rummaged through the bag, chuckling in delight. "Oh man, I have been bragging about your baking for weeks. No one believes any of your stuff is half as good as I say it is."

The nurse next to them cleared her throat, holding a tablet to her chest, eyes dancing.

"Oh, right, Darcy, this is the beautiful Arianna, and her father Will."

"Ah," Darcy said with a grin. "The elusive Will. He hasn't been able to shut up about you."

"Is that so?" Will glanced at Brian who he was pleased to see was blushing.

"Don't you have somewhere to be?" Brian grumbled.

"Sure," Darcy said, reaching into Brian's bag, grabbing a cookie, and leaving with a smirk.

"Well," Brian said as soon as she was out of earshot, "everyone at the hospital is going to know about us in about an hour."

"Good," Will responded with a nod.

"Since you're here, though," Brian said, pulling Will's left hand out of the coat pocket. "Let me check you over."

The stitches came out a while ago but Brian wasn't taking any chances. All that was left was a bright pink scar running down the length of Will's finger.

"I do good work," Brian admitted with a proud smile, brushing his fingertip down the scar, wondering if the full body shiver Will emitted was from the cold or something else.

Neither said anything until Ari shouted, "Grandma!"

Will and Brian both looked over to see Marlena walking toward them with a curious look on her face.

"Ari, Will, hello," Marlena greeted with a grin. She tilted her head toward Brian and said, "I'm sorry. I don't think we've been introduced."

"Brian James, Ma'am," Brian said as they shook hands.

"Doctor," Will added in a clear voice. "Dr. Brian James."

"I see," Marlena gestured to Brian's coat before something dawned on her. "Oh, is this the doctor who took care of you on Thanksgiving?"

Ari answered for them.

"Yes, Grandma. He sewed Daddy together and we kissed his booboo and he helped us with our gingerbread house!"

"Oh," Marlena blinked several times, looking between Will and Brian.

"Yeah," Will put his hand on Brian's forearm and smiled. "I've been meaning to introduce the two of you but things have been pretty busy."

Marlena nodded before her brows furrowed.

"You look vaguely familiar. Have we met before?"

"Well," Brian fidgeted for a moment, looking at Will for help. "I went to college in Salem and well, you see –,"

"Brian was interested in Sonny, back in the day."

"Ah, yes," Marlena said, " _that_  Brian. I remember, now."

She gave Will a questioning glance that Will pretended not to see.

"We met again here when I cut myself. We got to talking and we're seeing where things go."

"I'm glad to hear that," Marlena admitted. She sighed before adding, "it's been so hard seeing you all alone these past few months. Especially while everyone else around you has been so happy lately. And I admit I did worry how you were going to handle seeing Paul again in a few weeks."

"Well, now, you don't have to," Will squeezed Brian's arm with a tense smile.

"Exactly," Brian agreed, reaching an arm around Will's waist. "My mom and stepdad are coming for Christmas. I can't wait to introduce them to Will."

"Your parents?" Marlena asked. "Hmm, well, in that case, why don't you bring them over to my place for Christmas Eve? My husband and I are hosting a family get together. It would bring everyone some peace of mind to see Will moving on, I know."

Brian frowned at the phrasing but readily agreed.

"Thank you, that sounds great. I know my mom would love to get to know Will's family."

"Of course," Marlena said. "Now, I really do have to get to work. It was nice to meet you, young man."

"Likewise," Brian gave her a charming smile.

"Don't be a stranger, now, all three of you," Marlena said, giving Ari a special squeeze and leaving.

"Now, I know what you meant when you said this was going to be hard for you to do alone," Brian told Will.

"No kidding," Will agreed. "But, if you don't want to bring your parents to meet my family, I get it. There's a lot of us and it's going to be crazy and drama-filled and–,"

"Will, shut up."

Will glared at Brian who grinned back easily.

"Yeah, Daddy," Ari huffed. "Brian has to meet everyone."

"Alright, I see I'm outnumbered," Will sighed. "But, don't say I didn't warn you."

Brian glanced at his watch and said, "my shift is over in about 45 minutes. I don't know what your plans are but you could hang around here and wait if you wanted. Free WI-FI and I'll give you my hospital card to use at the cafeteria so you aren't bored."

Will looked at Ari before agreeing.

"Sure, I don't have to take Ari to Sonny's until tonight. Might as well wait for you."

"Great," Brian nodded before impulsively kissing the apple of Will's cheek again.

He shoved his card in Will's hand before walking away as fast as he could without breaking into a run. Reminding himself over and over that this was only for pretend. Even if he was beginning to wish it wasn't.

* * *

"I'm sure you're exhausted after your shift," Will said as the three of them walked out of the hospital bundled up for the cold weather and leaving Brian's car behind in the hospital parking garage.

"A little," Brian admitted. "But, it always takes me a little bit to ride off the adrenaline I get from working in the ER. And I don't have to work tomorrow so I can sleep all day."

"In that case," Will glanced over at Ari, "what should we do?"

"Ice skating!" Ari screeched when they walked past a sign.

"That sounds like fun," Brian agreed, walking them in the direction of the park. In the middle, there was a small area the town always set up for ice skating.

"Can't we do something else?" Will whined, dragging his feet.

But there was nothing he could say to dissuade them. They wanted to ice skate no matter what Will had to say about it.

* * *

"Come on, Daddy, please?" Ari asked from the rink.

As soon as they paid, Ari and Brian put on skates, laced them tight, and zoomed off around the rink. Will stood firmly on the ground. He didn't feel like making a fool of himself today.

Will shook his head.

"You two are having plenty of fun without me. You keep going."

"Ah, come on," Brian joined in the cajoling. "What do you have against ice skating, anyway?"

"Does anything about me indicate I'm coordinated enough to glide on little sharp blades?"

"True," Brian admitted and ignored Will's glare. "But, come on, it's fun."

"No, it is not," Will crossed his arms. "It's terrifying and humiliating and I don't wanna."

"So, what I'm hearing is, you don't know how?"

"Obviously," Will huffed.

"I'll teach you," Brian offered, not wanting to admit how cute he found Will's pouting.

"Plenty of people have tried," Will remarked. "And yet I still can't do it."

"Please?" Brian asked before picking Ari up by her middle.

It was impossible to deny both of their puppy dog eyes.

"If I get hurt, I'm blaming you," Will warned.

"That's a risk I'm going to take," Brian teased before putting Ari down and skating over to the exit. "Let's get you some skates."

It took almost twenty minutes to get Will from a bench to the ice, wobbling like a baby deer taking its first steps. So long that Ari grew bored and began to skate with a group of children she recognized from school.

Brian finally got Will on the ice. Now, he had to urge him away from clinging to the wall.

"Take my hands," Brian insisted, ever so slowly pulling Will away. "No, don't keep your legs so stiff. You gotta relax a little and bend your knees. Will, that's not relaxing."

"I'm trying!" Will squeaked, reaching out and clinging to Brian when he dared take a step away. "I'm not good at this."

"You haven't even moved yet," Brian teased but enjoyed the way Will cleaved to him. "How do you know?"

"Because every time I've tried this has been a disaster. It doesn't matter who teaches me, I spend more time falling on my face. I'd rather not get humiliated today, okay."

"No one is going to humiliate you," Brian promised, facing Will.

Will stared at Brian, making his eyes as big as possible, lower lip wobbling while he held tight to Brian's middle.

Brian shook his head and laughed.

"You are so used to getting everything you want when you do that, aren't you?"

"What?" Will asked, nose wrinkled in a way Brian shouldn't have found adorable.

"You," Brian chuckled. "You batting those pretty eyes at me with your little helpless face. Tell me, which one always gave into you, Sonny or Paul?"

Will, narrowing said pretty eyes, put out, mumbled, "Paul."

Brian snorted and shook his head.

"Figures," Brian trailed his fingertips down Will's forearms, linking their fingers. "No wonder you're still hung up on him."

"I never said that," Will said, feeling Brian's touch through the layers of his jacket and shirt.

"You didn't have to," Brian started skating backward, pulling Will with him, distracting Will the whole time. "Your eyes get all glassy when you mention him. You're worried about seeing him in person again. I've also seen the folder with all your pictures on your laptop. Not to mention, you're trying all the same tricks you used on him on me. Kind of obvious you're still into him."

"I don't want Paul anymore," Will insisted.

"So you say," Brian teased, flashing Will a blinding white grin when he said, "but guess what?"

"What?" Will wondered.

"We're skating," Brian teased, watching as Will's eyes widened and he almost toppled over, squeezing Brian's fingers tight.

"No, what are you doing?" Brian complained. "You were doing so good once you stopped thinking about it. Now, come on, move your foot, okay, good, now the other."

With Brian's gentle instructions, Will found himself moving inch by inch. Each time he teetered toward one side, Brian managed to get him to stop and right himself.

As another young child zoomed by them with ease, Will sighed.

"My feet hurt and this is stupid."

"No, it's not," Brian insisted. "Okay, let's try it this way."

Brian moved even closer to Will, hands steady on Will's hips. The two began to move, slowly but surely, Brian holding Will upright. Admiring the sheen of sweat on Will's forehead, how pink his cheeks and nose grew from the exertion. But most of all enjoying how Will's entire being brightened when Brian let go and Will began to stake on his own.

"Oh my god," Will laughed when he realized Brian was next to him and not in front of him. "I'm doing it, I'm skating."

His strides were jerky and uneven, barely going more than a few inches at a time but he was doing it by himself. And he hadn't fallen over once.

"I knew you could do it," Brian said with a proud grin. "It didn't even take that long. See, all you needed was the right teacher."

Will conceded that point. When he tried as a child with his parents it inevitably turned into a battle of who could get Will to skate first. When he was a teenager, none of his friends had the patience to do anything besides tease him. Sonny, well, that was an unmitigated disaster. Will spent the whole time feeling stupid and bristling under Sonny's condescending tone. Even Paul couldn't get why Will, normally athletic and quick thinking, couldn't bend his knees and glide at least.

Apparently what Will needed was someone to take almost an hour and go step by step with Will, praising him for the simplest things, distracting him with ridiculous anecdotes until Will didn't even remember he was trying to skate.

The two eased to a stop, Brian with more finesse than Will. Clutching at Brian's arms, still unsteady on his feet, Will beamed at him.

"Thank you."

Brian didn't respond for a few moments. Too distracted by the tip of Will's red nose. Brian wondered if it would feel as cold as it looked under his lips. If he kissed it, would the rest of Will's face redden the way he'd blush when Brian complimented him.

"Ah," Brian shook himself out of his daydream about Will's nose of all things, "you're welcome."

The two stared at one another, Will clinging to Brian's arms while Brian rested his hands on Will's waist. Their heads moving toward the other without even realizing. Lips inches apart when they heard, "Daddy, Brian, catch me!"

Ari slammed into their legs with a loud cackle not two seconds later. Will and Brian wobbled for a few moments before tottering onto the ice in a heap.

"Oops," Ari giggled from where she was sprawled across the top of them, "sorry."

Will and Brian looked at each other for a few moments before starting to laugh.

"At least you didn't fall on your own this time," Brian offered with a shrug.

As they gathered themselves, Brian having to practically drag Will onto his feet, neither admitted how disappointed they were they Ari unintentionally stopped their kiss.

* * *

"It's hard to believe this is where Sonny lives," Brian told Will under his breath so Ari wouldn't hear.

After their ice skating session, Brian treated them to a round of hot chocolate. Ari and Will both instantly getting whipped cream on their noses. Something that didn't help Brian's desire to kiss Will's nose.

While they drank them, they walked to the Kiriakis mansion.

"No kidding," Will scoffed, kicking a stray rock out of his way. "Sonny never wanted to live off his family, rely on them for anything. Always wanted to make it on his own, make a name for himself. Now, well, it doesn't help that Leo loves living in a mansion, but you'd think they'd want a place of their own."

"This Leo guy sounds like quite the character."

Will shrugged.

"There's always going to be bad blood between us. You know, seeing as how he tried to kill me once."

"What?" Brian spat out, startling Ari out of her daydream a few steps ahead of them.

Once Ari turned around again, Brian stepped closer and repeated, "what?"

"You know how I told you about Ben Weston and the amnesia thing?"

"Yeah, the serial killer that's dating your cousin and tried to murder you twice? Trust me, I remember."

"Leo tried to strangle me too and I panicked and Sonny had to throw him off me. And well, I told you about the blackmail and faking his death thing."

"Again, hard to forget."

"So, I mean, I guess I have a problem with anyone that tried to kill me and everyone moving on as if it's completely normal."

"Good point," Brian admitted. The more he heard about this Leo guy the more he questioned Sonny's character judgment.

"But, he's been good to Ari so I can't really complain. I caught him talking on the phone once to someone when I was waiting for Ari. He told whoever he was talking to that he owned a mansion and was marrying a millionaire who was going to inherit a fancy company. I guess Sonny hasn't told him they're living off Victor's charity. It'll be funny to see the day it dawns on him Sonny isn't going to inherit anything."

"You're kind of terrible," Brian said and added, "I like that in a man."

Will burst into laughter as they turned the corner and the Kiriakis mansion came into sight. Will spoke to the guard at the gate before they entered.

Brian stayed back a few feet from the front door. About the same amount of distance Leo always felt the need to leave when Sonny dropped Ari off at Will's. Let them see what a real smirk and condescension looked like.

"You're late," Sonny greeted them with, frowning at Ari's sweaty mess of hair.

"We went ice skating, Daddy! And we had hot chocolate and it was the best day ever!"

"You went ice skating?" Sonny wondered, eyeing Will up and down for injuries.

"Yes, turns out I just needed a better teacher," Will responded with a sweet smile. He turned to Ari and kissed her on both cheeks and her forehead. "Be good, okay? I'm gonna miss you so much."

"I'll miss you too," Ari wrapped Will in a tight hug before letting go.

"Bye, baby girl," Will said, turning on his heel. With his back turned, he added, "see ya, Sonny."

Will smiled when he heard Sonny ask Ari, "who is that man?"

"Him? That's Daddy's boyfriend. He's a doctor and the best ice skating partner ever!"

Brian's eyes danced when he caught Will's gaze and held out his arm, the two walking down the pathway together.

"At what point in time is Sonny going to recognize me?" Brian wondered, hooking his arm with Will's.

"It is pretty odd he hasn't thrown a fit yet. But, I'm sure it'll happen sooner or later."

As they left the Kiriakis grounds, neither let go of the other's arm. They walked in silence for a while, it was at least a twenty-minute walk to Will's place and they seemed to gravitate in that direction without discussing it.

"Did you ever think we'd be here?" Will asked, stepping closer to Brian when the breeze picked up.

"What? Fake dating you to appease my mother?"

"No," Will rolled his eyes. "Well, yes, but also no. I meant, you know, you and me getting along, becoming friends."

"To be honest, nope, never in my life."

Will snorted.

"But, to be even more honest, I also never thought you'd ever come out of the closet so I've been wrong before."

"There was once a time I would have agreed with you. Hell, even when I had amnesia I had issues coming out. Well, not exactly coming out, I knew I was gay. I just had issues with my pretend mother insisting I was straight all the time. But, either way, being in the closet feels like a lifetime ago."

Brian nodded, deliberating a few moments before sighing.

"Believe it or not, I had a hard time coming out too."

"You?" Will scoffed. "You gave me so much shit and treated me like dirt because it took me a while to come out."

"I know," Brian acknowledged. "I mean, I always knew I was gay, even when I was a kid. Maybe not gay, exactly, but I knew I didn't like girls. And I was always that sort of All-American stereotype guy with a father that thrived off it. I only stayed in the closet long enough because I knew he'd flip out if he knew. But, eventually, I couldn't stand it anymore. Told some friends and they were pretty cool with it. So, I told my parents. My mom always knew, or so she says, but my dad couldn't handle it."

"What did he do?" Will asked, eyes on Brian the whole time they were walking.

"We got in this huge fight. When I refused to go back in the closet, pretend everything was the way it used to be, he hit me."

"What?"

"Yeah, punched me right in the face. I told my mom. They got divorced and I pretty much haven't seen him since."

"Brian, I –,"

"It is what it is. I mean, I felt bad for my mom for a long time, guilty, you know. Then she met Jacob and she's happier now with him than she ever was with my dad. Probably why she tries so hard to get me with someone."

Brian cleared his throat.

"Anyway, I think that's why I had so many problems with you coming out. All the excuses about why you couldn't or wouldn't reminded me too much of all the crap my dad said. Which isn't your fault and I didn't have any business deciding the right or wrong way for someone to come out. It also didn't help that I was ridiculously jealous of you for having Sonny's attention. When apparently we were both insane for giving him the time of day."

Will let out a short laugh, squeezing Brian's arm.

"Well, I'm sorry about your dad but I'm glad you have an awesome mom."

"An awesome mom who sends me texts every day asking how my adorable boyfriend is," Brian replied.

"Shut up, she does not."

"Oh, she does. Every. Day."

"Wow, a mother-in-law who might actually like me. That's new."

"What? Sonny's mom and Paul's mom not like you?"

Will gave Brian a dry look and said, "let me tell you a few stories…"

* * *

"I don't care what you say. I'm not watching the Great British Baking show again," Brian grumbled, settling onto Will's couch.

"Yes, you are," Will replied, ignoring Brian's whines as he put the TV on Netflix and hit play. Starting the next episode and disregarding Brian's grumbles. "Here, eat this and shut up."

Brian took a large bowl of popcorn out of Will's arms, shoving a handful in his mouth. He would eat the delicious combination of white and dark chocolate drizzled over the kernels. But he wasn't going to be happy about it.

They spent the rest of the episode, and the three after that, bickering over which contestants would make it to the next episode, who would win what challenge, and whether or not Will could make it on the show or not.

Brian, hogging the popcorn, slapped Will's hand away anytime he tried taking some. Somehow eating the entire bowl himself and still encouraging Will to attempt his own joconde sponge cake. Hovering over Will's shoulder and gladly licking any and all spoons, spatulas, and beaters clean.

By the time Brian made his way home, it was well past midnight, he had a stomachache from too many sweets, and he couldn't figure out why arguing and eating with Will was turning into his favorite way to spend an evening.

* * *

"Hey, did I wake you?" Will asked the next day around noon, phone pressed between his ear and shoulder. He knew Brian liked to sleep in on his days off.

"No," Brian answered in a grumpy tone, flopping onto his side in bed. "I can't sleep."

"Why not?" Will wondered as he put his phone on speaker and started opening boxes of Christmas lights he bought.

"The heater's busted in my apartment. They aren't sure when it's getting fixed either. I swear I have on three sweaters and I'm still freezing."

"So, come stay with me," Will offered without thinking. "I have a spare bedroom. Well, it's my office but it has a pull-out sofa. It's pretty comfy and Ari's at school during the day so you can sleep all you want."

"Are you serious?"

"Why wouldn't I be? I have an extra room and a heater. Living with a kid is kind of a pain in the ass, I'll admit. But your shifts are so long you won't have to see her that much if you care."

"I don't mind seeing Ari. She's not too bad for a kid. I just meant – you know – wouldn't it be a little weird. We've only been fake dating for a few weeks. Now all of a sudden I'm moving in?"

"Well, considering my record with men it's not that fast," Will mumbled. "You don't have to if you don't want to. I just thought I'd offer. You and I have been getting along so well. Forget it. It was a stupid idea."

"No, don't say that. It just took me by surprise. Are you sure it's okay?"

"Yes, I'm sure. And it's going to sell our fake relationship if you spend the night. Everyone will think you're in my bed, not my office."

"Let me get my car from the hospital and I'll be over."

Brian didn't mention how he'd much rather be in Will's bed than office.

* * *

"You don't have to share a bathroom with her if you don't want," Will told Brian as they both stood in front of the mirror in Ari's bathroom.

It was a tight squeeze. Will and Ari fit fine. Two grown men with wide shoulders, not so much.

"It's not like I'm gonna spend that much time here," Brian pointed out. He unpacked a small bag of toiletries. Shampoo, conditioner, body wash, aftershave, an electric razor, and toothbrush and paste.

"I knew it," Will exclaimed, grabbing a box of expensive teeth whitener.

"Knew what?" Brian asked, snatching the box back and shoving it on a high shelf Ari couldn't reach.

"I knew no one's teeth were that white naturally," Will teased, poking at Brian's mouth.

Brian snapped his teeth at Will's finger and grinned when Will jumped back, caught unaware.

"And to think I cleaned my office for you," Will huffed before wrinkling his nose and laughing when Brian simply smiled at him. "What?"

Brian shrugged, grinning at Will. He didn't even know why himself. Other than he enjoyed making Will laugh and the domestic feel of the two side-by-side in Will's home.

"Come on," Will said, edging around Brian, brushing up against him in the tight space. "You can help me pick out a Christmas tree. Should I get an artificial one or a real one?"

Brian followed Will out. Watching as Will grabbed their coats and headed for the garage door. The two got into Brian's car, arguing the pros and cons of each tree option without missing a beat.

* * *

"Brian's gonna live with us?" Ari asked after she took off her coat and tossed it in the hall closet later in the day. "Forever?"

Sonny dropped Ari off a few minutes ago, barely even getting out of the car. Insisting they needed to get to an important business dinner and had no time for pleasantries.

"Probably not forever," Will told her with a chuckle. "But, the heat in his apartment isn't working. So, I said he could stay with us. Is that alright?"

"Uh-huh," Ari nodded before realizing there was a Christmas tree set up in the living room. "Daddy! You didn't tell me you got our tree."

Brian snorted at the look on Ari's face, the wide stance with her hands on her hips.

"It's a surprise," Will explained. "We put the lights on it but were waiting for you to decorate."

"We?" Brian asked. "I don't remember you doing any work."

Will smiled, tossing a box of ornaments at Brian's chest.

"Let's get to work."

Brian helped Ari hang ornaments on the high branches while Will opened box after box of decorations. He put on a playlist of Pentatonix Christmas music and laughed off Brian's complaints he wanted real Christmas songs. Throwing tinsel around Ari's shoulders, the two playing they were in a fashion show, strutting down an imaginary runway. Will pretending the ornaments were earrings or hanging them off his shirt.

The three collapsing on the couch, relishing a job well done. Basking in the glow of the tree before Will said, "now, who wants to climb on the roof and hang our outdoor lights?"

Will and Ari both turned to look at Brian with identical expressions of expectation on their faces.

Brian sighed before pushing off the couch.

"How did I know moving in with you would come to bite me in the ass?"


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Brian settles into Will and Ari's lives

A little after three in the morning, Brian used the button he programmed on his car to open the garage and glided inside. Home after a grueling shift.

Home, to Will and Ari's place. Funny after only a week, he began to think of it as home. It certainly felt like home when his car had its own side of the garage. It felt like home when he saw his coats nestled between Will and Ari's in the coat closet. Soft, expensive wool next to Ari's bright pink faux fur and Will's battered plaid monstrosities.

It felt like home when he saw the parade of notes and papers waiting for him on the kitchen counter. A hand-drawn picture from Ari of their Christmas tree – theirs, not just Will and Ari's. Flipping the picture over, Brian's lips quirked up at Ari's message with sloppy spelling and backward letters: Tu Biran, luv Ari.

The sight of Will's note had Brian's stomach gurgling with a hunger he pushed aside for hours. Hours of screaming patients, blood, mucus, and broken bones.

Following Will's instructions, Brian pushed start on the microwave and groaned when he looked inside. Will wasn't the greatest cook, an exceptional baker, yes, but a gourmet chef he would never be. The only thing Will truly mastered was stir-fry. So, the sight of Will's clumsily chopped vegetables and the scent of a sweet and spicy sauce made Brian almost drool.

Grabbing the warm bowl and a fork, Brian collapsed on the couch in what was quickly becoming his spot.

(Brian on one corner, leaning his right arm on the armrest, sharing an ottoman with Will, sock covered toes brushing. Will in the middle, stretched out so long he might as well have been lying down. Ari starting on the left side but ending up draped across Will one way or the other. Her little feet in Brian's lap, giggling whenever he ran a finger up the bottom of her foot when she wasn't expecting it.)

Brian turned on the TV, ready for something mindless and inane to relax him. It took an entire episode of something on Bravo for him to notice what else Will left him. On the side table next to where Brian sat was a plate covered in a napkin. Under the napkin was a plate full of the most delicious looking brownies Brian had ever seen. Gooey without being crumbly, covered in a thin layer of frosting and sprinkled with nuts.

Underneath the last piece was a smiley face piped with frosting. It shouldn't have warmed Brian's insides and filled him better than the meal and dessert did.

There were a lot of things about Will that Brian shouldn't feel but did.

Brian passed out a little before Will woke up. Collapsing on his pull out sofa in Will's office and falling to sleep before his head hit the pillow. He didn't hear anything. Not the sound of Ari whining and complaining when Will dragged her out of bed a little after six. Not the bathroom vent whirling to life while Will forced Ari's hair into compliance. Not even when Ari dropped her backpack outside Brian's door and spilled the contents everywhere.

Brian, so used to the sounds Will and Ari made, never even twitched.

It wasn't until a little after two in the afternoon that Brian emerged from his room. He found Will in the dining room with a mess of papers spread out around him, hair a wreck from running his fingers through it, and his blue eyes red and panicked.

"Hey," Brian greeted, leaning in the doorway that connected the dining room and kitchen.

"Hi," Will tossed Brian a soft smile, shoulders easing at the sight of Brian. "Did you sleep okay?"

"Yeah," Brian acknowledged. "I always sleep better on a full stomach."

Will's eyes twinkled and his nose twitched.

"Glad I could help."

"Speaking of helping," Brian nodded toward the table and paper strewn everywhere. "What's up with this?"

"I thought I had everything figured out with my latest story and I missed something completely and it's due in a few hours and I don't want to miss my deadline but I can't concentrate and –,"

"And, relax," Brian urged, trying not to smile at Will's rambling.

Will's chattering when he was younger irritated Brian to no end. The way he'd sit in Common Grounds – hoping to catch a moment of Sonny's time – and see Will going on and on, over-exaggerating everything and anything with a wild look in his eyes, it bothered Brian so much.

So many things about Will drove Brian crazy back then. Only now, Brian couldn't help but wonder if that irritation was because he found Will annoying or because the way Will made him feel was annoying.

Brian wasn't blind when he was younger. Will was hot and sweet. He also represented everything Brian wasn't. Will was all innocence and naivety. Young, confused, terrified without any idea who he was or who he wanted to be. Brian was the opposite. He knew who he was and where he wanted his life to go. The two were such polar opposites in everything, Brian dark to Will's light.

Then there was Sonny. Sonny, who seemed to have the same goals and ideals as Brian, who seemed to mesh with him so well. But now, years later, Sonny wasn't who Brian wanted at all. Brian never would have guessed Will would have been the one with a stable, established career. A homeowner with a daughter to raise on his own, still discovering hidden talents and kind and generous to almost strangers.

Brian didn't understand why Will needed a fake boyfriend to get through the holiday season. He didn't understand why men weren't lining up at Will's door, baggage and daughter be damned. But Brian empathized.

Brian too pushed away men before they could get too close. Pushed before they could ever get as close as Will let Paul Narita once. Brian was an old friend of self-sabotage. Knew what it was like to guard yourself even when you wanted someone close. Not knowing how to let yourself be happy, not when it really mattered.

Brian had heard it all over his weeks with Will. Heard about the never-ending saga that was Will and Sonny's relationship and how he was only a small footnote at the end. He even learned all about the great Paul Narita and Will's insistence that he could have never been what Paul needed.

(Brian doubted that very much. He listened to Will talk about their relationship, saw the look in Will's eyes. Growing feelings for Will or not, Brian knew Will was an idiot. It sounded to him like Paul Narita would have done anything to keep Will close and Will chose to let him go. Threw him away for a man who abandoned Will time and time again.)

No, Will Horton's panic and fear, his rambling and honesty shouldn't have made him even more attractive to Brian but it did.

"What do you need me to do?" Brian found himself asking. "Do you need some time alone? Help researching? What?"

"Oh – uh –," Will blinked over and over, startled by Brian's offer of help. "I – I think I have a good grasp, now. But I need to take Ari to her dance class today. She expects me to watch her and I always have. I love watching her but I don't know if I have enough time. They're practicing for a performance on Christmas Eve. Why it's on Christmas Eve I don't know but it gets me out of the Horton tree trimming thing so I shouldn't complain. I don't want to disappoint her but I need to work and –,"

"Will," Brian said, calm and succinct. "Shut up."

Will clamped his mouth shut but frowned.

"I'll take her," Brian insisted, lifting up his hands when Will opened his mouth again. "It's not a problem. I can handle a bunch of kids clumsily throwing their limbs around. We can bring something back for dinner too so you don't have to worry about that."

"Brian," Will said, eyes glimmering and Brian had to look away because the grateful look on Will's face was too much.

"Just keep working," Brian replied. At Will's nod, he asked, "do you have to call the school and give permission for me to pick her up or anything?"

"Uh," Will trailed off, rubbing one of his elbows with a sheepish look on his face. "No. I kind of added you to the approved list a few weeks ago. I have to update it every month anyway and it seemed like a good idea."

"I guess it's paying off, now," Brian admitted. "I better go get ready."

"Brian," Will called once Brian turned away from him. Once Brian looked over his shoulder, Will enthused, "thank you."

"Make me some more brownies and we're even."

Brian walked away, the sight of Will's delightfully flushed face frozen in his mind.

* * *

Brian couldn't help that the sight of Ari attempting ballet tugged at his heartstrings. Her little tutu covered body, all left feet, and clumsy limbs was precious. The fact that she didn't even care if she fell or if she was turning in the opposite direction as her peers was adorable. The giant grin she'd get every time she looked in Brian's direction and waved didn't help matters either.

Brian waved back every time, even if he had done it fifteen times before.

Once the rehearsal was over, Brian lingered in the back of the room with a few other parents, mostly females, while the children changed.

"So," one particularly bold woman asked, eyeing him up and down with a delighted expression, "you must be with Will."

"What makes you say that?" Brian wondered, arms crossed, sweater pulling across his biceps.

"Please," the woman scoffed, "you're gorgeous, gay, and smitten with his daughter."

Brian let out a loud guffaw, taken by surprise.

"It's about time he found someone," another woman added, joining the conversation. "He's so sweet and handsome."

"You're a much better option than that other man," yet another woman volunteered. "Ari's other 'father'."

Before he knew it, Brian found himself circled by a group of mother's all with a protective penchant for Will Horton.

"Brian!" Ari yelled, hopping into his arms like she hadn't seen him all practice and like she hadn't done the same thing a few hours ago when he got her from school. "Did you see me? Did you see me?"

"I did," Brian nodded, setting her down. "You looked pretty good."

"I only fell four times today," Ari proudly declared. "I can't wait to tell Daddy!"

"Speaking of your daddy," one woman interjected, nodding at Brian, "who is this, Arianna?"

Ari looked at the woman like she was incredibly dense, "Daddy's boyfriend, duh."

The woman, curiosity satisfied, giggled with delight when Ari added, "he's a doctor and lives with us and my daddy gives him treats every night."

"Oh, I bet he does," the first woman snickered, eyeing Brian again like a piece of meat.

"She means desserts," Brian clarified with a cough.

"Desserts?" yet another woman asked. "Will can bake?"

"Yes," Brian answered. "He's amazing, to be honest."

"Hmm," the woman mused before saying, "for our Christmas performance, we were thinking about catering some treats, cookies, cupcakes, that type of thing. But if Will could do it, well, I know I'd feel more comfortable paying him."

Brian thought about it for a few moments before answering, "Will would love to."

* * *

"You volunteered me for what?" Will spat, glaring at Brian over the edge of his laptop.

"You get to bake all the desserts for the Christmas recital," Brian repeated. When Will's face didn't defrost, Brian elaborated with a sigh. "Look, you're desserts are amazing. You're amazing. I keep telling you to branch out and think about this as a viable career. Hell, even a side business. And this will give you your first taste. And I didn't volunteer you. You're getting paid."

"Brian, no one besides you and Ari and a few other people have ever tasted anything I've made," Will said, "I've never even made enough for more than a few people. And it's on Christmas Eve and you're parents are coming to town on top of my family and everyone else that I'm gonna see. Why would you do this to me?"

"Because you needed a push," Brian insisted. "This is good for you. You love baking."

"I love baking for you," Will argued. When he realized what he said, he amended, "for us! What if everyone else thinks it's awful?"

"They won't," Brian promised. He leaned toward Will from his seat at the dining table, grabbing both shoulders. "Will, trust me. You can do this. And if you hate it, well, you can say I told you so and never bake for anyone but me ever again."

"Promise?" Will asked, lower lip protruding.

Brian used his index finger to push Will's lip back in his mouth, ignoring the sharp inhale of Will's breath or how soft and plush Will's lip felt.

"I promise."

* * *

Will, article finished and as perfect as he could get, tucked Ari in bed and went straight to the kitchen. His initial panic and anger at Brian forcing him into baking for the recital diminished the longer he thought about it.

Will did love baking, more than he ever thought he would. He loved watching Ari and Brian's reactions to what he created even more. How satisfying would it be to see other people, total strangers who didn't care about sparing his feelings react?

Itching to do something, Will grabbed all the staples to make cupcakes and got to work. Adding a dash of this flavor and a dash of that, confident in his growing abilities to experiment, gaining a good grasp on flavors.

Licking a beater covered in a cinnamon flavored batter, Will couldn't wait to give Brian a taste. He rushed down to Brian's room and flung open the door without stopping to think.

"Brian, taste this and tell me what you – uh – think – um…" Will trailed off as he walked into his office, Brian's temporary bedroom, without knocking.

Ever since Brian brought a suitcase over the other week, everyone settled into a new normal. Will and Ari kept to their regular schedule. Since Brian worked such long shifts, every other day, Will would work in his dining room or went to the office so as not to disturb his sleep. But, when Brian had the day off and was done sleeping, his presence added to their home. He was a much better cook than Will and often prepared dinner. He enjoyed video games and loved when Ari sat by his side, cheering him on. At night, when Ari went to sleep, Will would practice new desserts while Brian relaxed in front of the TV. Brian taste testing and often drifting into the kitchen and watching Will work. The two talking, laughing, and arguing.

With Brian around, Will wasn't lonely. Brian was more than his fake boyfriend, more than a roommate, and more than a mere friend.

Not that Will could tell Brian that which made his gaping at Brian's shirtless torso even more awkward.

Brian lifted his brows, not doing anything to hide his pleased smirk.

"Can I help you?"

Will, eyes stuck on Brian's perfectly sculpted physique, on his pecs and the deep grooves in his obliques, didn't answer.

"Will," Brian whistled and waved a hand in front of Will's face, "you who?"

"Huh?" Will asked, shaking his head, while his face turned bright red.

"You wanted to ask me something?"

"Oh – uh – yeah," Will tried to keep his eyes on Brian's face.

He didn't know what was wrong with him. It wasn't like he hadn't seen a gorgeous guy shirtless before. He slept with Paul Narita almost every day for months after all. But, it had been a long time for Will and as much as he hated to admit it, he'd always found Brian attractive.

Will had spent more time than he should daydreaming about how different his life would have been if he dated Brian when he first came out instead of Sonny.

"Sorry," Will snapped his eyes closed after they drifted down to the edge of Brian's low hanging pants. "I want you to taste something. I should have knocked. Sorry."

"It's no problem," Brian laughed, shirt in his hands but making no effort to put it on.

He was enjoying Will's reaction too much.

"You know I'll eat anything you give me," Brian added, blue eyes dancing. He caressed his stomach, fingers gliding over the deep bumps of his abdominals. "I have to workout a lot harder, now, to keep these up, though."

Will turned on his heel, face like a lobster and speechless.

"Hey," Brian yelled once Will walked out the door, "I finally learned how to shut you up. I just have to take my clothes off."

Brian drifted into the kitchen mere minutes later, purposely leaving his t-shirt on his bed, letting Will look at his exposed skin as much as he wanted.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Will and Brian both get what they want for Christmas despite a bit of interference from Sonny, Leo, and Paul.

Will spent all day flittering around the kitchen and the house. It was Christmas Eve Eve and Brian's mother and stepfather were arriving the next day. On top of that stress, Brian volunteered Will to do all the baking for Marlena's dinner as well as the desserts for Ari's dance recital. Plus, Will still couldn't get the image of Brian shirtless out of his head from the other night.

How the man looked like that when he ate his weight in Will's baked goods every day, Will would never know.

Will worried most about whether he could keep his feelings for Brian a secret much longer. Terrified Brian would realize how much Will looked forward to being out in public together because they had to act like a couple.

After finishing his last batch of cookies, Will took a long, steamy shower. And if the sight of Brian shirtless lingered on his mind while in there, it was no one's business but his own.

Turning off the shower, Will hissed when he flung open his shower door and all the heat escaped. Before Will had time to grab his towel, Brian came barging in, headphones on and a laundry basket in his arms. When he glanced up and saw Will's naked form, he dropped the basket, clean clothes spilling everywhere.

Will fumbled to cover himself, glaring at Brian.

"Really? What is this, payback for the other night?"

Brian, recovering quicker than Will did when their roles were reversed, shook his head while gathering up the clothes again.

"I didn't hear the shower on," Brian pointed to his headphones.

He started walking backward toward the door, eyes gliding over Will's body with a wide smile.

Will rolled his eyes but couldn't stop the boost of confidence Brian's look gave him. Will knew he didn't look like Brian but his body was nothing to be ashamed of. He'd never had any complaints before.

"I guess we both have a problem with knocking," Brian said lifting his brows up and down.

"Yeah, yeah, now you know what to ask Santa for, don't you?"

"I have been a good boy this year," Brian quipped, the sight of Will dripping wet and naked haunting him all the way to bed.

* * *

The morning of Christmas Eve, Will was running around the house, a frazzled, nervous wreck. Not because he wasn't prepared for the holiday. He'd gotten Ari's gifts wrapped the day before. Not because he needed to finish baking, no. He completed that the night before too.

He was anxious because Brian would be over any minute with his mom and stepdad. Will so badly wanted to make a good impression. Tori hated the idea of Paul with Will. Adrienne despised Will, even more so now than before.

Not to mention, this entire scheme was to make Brian's mother happy. So far, after everything she heard from Brian and the minute or so she saw Will back on Thanksgiving, Karen Michaels liked what she saw. But, Will was known for ruining things. He didn't want this to blow up in Brian's face.

Will vacuumed and dusted, wiping non-existent specs of dirt off the countertops. Running back to the bathroom to look in his mirror, frowning at his reflection.

He let Brian pick out his outfit while Will wrapped presents the night before. It wasn't fancy, just a well-fitting pair of jeans and a tight blue button-up shirt. Brian insisted it was perfect but Will worried it wasn't enough. Worried he wasn't enough.

He shouldn't freak out about meeting the mother of his fake boyfriend this much but he couldn't help it. The past month getting closer to Brian was wonderful. Brian was so handsome and charming. He made Will laugh and never put up with any of Will's crap. It was refreshing and new after so many months of being alone.

And if every now and again Will liked to pretend they really were a couple, well, that was a secret worth keeping.

_Ding dong_

"Daddy, doorbell," Ari bellowed from her toy room.

Will let out a shaky breath, tugged at the hem of his shirt one last time, then ran for the door. His smile shifted into something much more natural when he saw Brian, eyes lighting up.

"Hi," Will gushed, slightly overwhelmed by the sight of Brian in a tight white sweater. "You didn't use your key."

"Thought I'd give you some warning," Brian leaned forward and kissed Will's cheek. He gestured to a handsome couple behind him. "Will, this is my mom, Karen, and my stepfather, Jacob. Guys, this is Will."

"Well, of course, it is," Karen gushed, shoving Brian aside and yanking Will into a tight hug. "Oh, it's so nice to meet you in person. Let me look at you."

She grabbed Will's cheeks in both hands, smooshing his face together.

"You're even more handsome than over the phone," Karen pulled him into another hug. "Jacob, isn't he the cutest thing you've ever seen?"

"Adorable," Jacob responded in a dry tone but gave Will a smile when they caught eyes over Karen's shoulder.

"Hi," Will greeted, looking at Brian for help.

"Mom," Brian eased her off Will with an embarrassed expression. "Quit smothering him."

"I can't help it," Karen wiped at her eyes. "He's perfect and you're so beautiful together. After all these years of you being alone, I don't have to worry anymore."

Will and Brian looked at each other, an uncomfortable feeling in the pit of their stomachs. Face-to-face with Karen, seeing how their lie was affecting her, made them nervous.

"I sure hope you don't," Will said letting the words flow naturally. His fingers slipped into Brian's and gave a squeeze. "Because Brian's amazing. He's a fantastic doctor. I know. My aunt is in charge and she let slip how great she thinks he is."

Brian gave Will a skeptical grin.

"What? She did?" Will insisted. "And on top of being ridiculously handsome, he's a wonderful person and the time I've spent with him has been some of the best of my life."

"Oh," Karen waved her hands at her eyes again. "That was beautiful."

"Will," Brian started to say before Will shook his head.

Brian stared at Will with a soft look on his face. Something gentle in his eyes, squeezing Will's hand tight.

"Daddy, who is it?" Ari yelled, interrupting them all, as the sound of toys being thrown echoed around the house.

"Daddy?" Karen questioned with a frown.

"…uh," Brian knew he forgot something.

Will, pinching Brian firmly in the side, cleared his throat.

"That would be my daughter, Ari."

"Daughter? You have a daughter?" Karen asked, taken aback.

"Yes, Ma'am, she's six," Will answered.

"Well," Karen sniffled, "I wasn't expecting this but it explains why you have such a charming house."

"Why don't you meet her?" Will suggested, inviting everyone inside. "Ari, come here, please."

It took Ari a few minutes to come to the door, long enough for everyone to remove their coats and scarves.

"Ari," Will smoothed out her hair, hands on her shoulders, reminding Brian so much of his first meeting with the girl, "this is Brian's mom and dad."

"Ooooh," Ari said, slipping on a grin. "I love Brian! He's the bestest doctor and ice skater ever!"

"You're not so bad yourself, Squirt," Brian winked at her, offering a fist bump.

"Well, now, look at you," Karen kneeled in front of Ari. She touched Ari's cheeks and brushed her hair aside. "You are the spitting image of your father."

"I know," Ari nodded. "That's why I'm so beautiful."

Will let out a bark of laughter before Ari added, "at least, that's what Brian says when Daddy's not around."

Brian's face heated up when everyone turned to look at him.

"Uh, can I offer anyone something to drink? Will's got an awesome espresso machine and makes the best treats."

"Now, this I've been looking forward to. The kid hasn't shut up about your baking," Jacob revealed, following Brian into the kitchen.

"That's because Will's baking is amazing," Brian maintained. "I keep telling him he should open his own bakery or start a catering company or something."

"You keep saying that and I keep reminding you I have no idea how to run a business," Will reminded him.

"Well, now, don't sell yourself short," Jacob added. "With the right help, I bet you could get started on something."

"See," Brian gave Will a knowing look causing Will to dig his elbow into Brian's side.

Karen watched the two with a blissful sigh, leaning against Jacob. The sound of Ari playing with her toys a happy soundtrack as they all got to know one another.

* * *

Karen left Ari's bathroom and entered the hallway. She couldn't stop from taking a sneak peek in the two bedrooms adjacent to the bathroom. One room was clearly Ari's. The walls were pink, the bedding purple, and it was covered in stuffed animals. Karen smiled at the sight and the hastily stuffed toys spilling out of storage bins.

The next room was an office of some sort. Bookcases lined the walls, a desk, and a dark gray couch. Next to the couch was a heap of men's clothing and a suitcase. A vaguely familiar suitcase with vaguely familiar clothes and a set of shoes she bought Brian for his birthday three months ago.

"Mom," Brian said from the hall, startling Karen. "What are doing?"

"Snooping," Karen said, picking off a piece of lint from Brian's sweater before smoothing it down his shoulders. "And my Brian boy, you don't have to hide. I know."

"You know what?" Brian wondered.

"I know about you and Will," Karen said with a mischievous smile.

"You know what about me and Will?" Brian asked, internally panicking. Mind whirling for an explanation for all the lies he and Will had told.

"I know you're staying in his room," Karen whispered. "Honestly, hiding your suitcase in here? You're an adult. I know you're having – well – relations with your boyfriend. There's no need to hide it."

"…uh…"

"Now, what time is Ari's dance recital?"

"We need to leave in about twenty minutes," Brian said, letting out a relieved puff of air.

"Speaking of," Will said as they walked into the living room. "I need to explain before we leave who we'll run into while there."

"Oh, who?"

Will glanced at Brian for a moment before saying, "did Brian ever tell you the story of when we first met?"

* * *

Later in the evening, after a whole day together, Will, Brian, Karen, and Jacob arrived at the Horton Recreational Center. Ari's ballet troupe was taking part in a Christmas pageant. There would be school choirs singing and various dance groups, as well as treats and mingling.

After watching Ari's dance, Will and Brian went to set up all the desserts Will baked. A selection of cookies, candies, and cupcakes and if anyone hated his baking, Will was blaming Brian.

Brian attempted to calm Will's nerves but he didn't need to. A few minutes after setting out the treats, a long line formed. Everyone complimenting the chef and leaving Will a speechless, fumbling mess.

Brian left Will to his compliments to take his mom and Jacob a selection of each treat before they were all gone. When he left, Will looked up to see Sonny and Leo next in line.

Will withheld a sigh.

"I'm not sure anyone should be eating these," Sonny said with a tense smile. "I know how dangerous you are in the kitchen."

"I guess you don't know me as well as you think," Will quipped, ignoring the way Leo smirked at him.

"I guess not," Sonny agreed, oh so casually bringing his arm around Leo's waist. "Ari said you had a boyfriend and yet no one's met him, strange."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Will replied, trying to control his fingers from fidgeting. "Marlena's met him. Kayla works with him. Ari spends time with him all the time. Hell, even the dance mom's here have met him."

"Well, why hasn't Sonny met this man, then?" Leo asked with his nose in the air. "If his daughter is spending time with a strange man, I think he has a right to meet him."

"Leo," Will gave him a saccharine smile, "Sonny doesn't get to decide who's appropriate to have in my daughter's life, considering he's with you. And if you want my daughter to be anywhere near either of you, I suggest you keep your opinion to yourself."

"Ouch," Leo said with as much sarcasm as possible. "When did you grow claws, Little Will?"

"I seem to remember him always having them," Brian said, easing around Sonny and Leo and slinking up close to Will. Brian ignored the other two, focusing on flattening Will's collar and kissing his temple.

The look of dawning comprehension on Sonny's face was almost too much for Will to handle. He had to bury his face in Brian's neck to stop from laughing. Enjoying the feel of his skin and the scent of his cologne while he was there.

"Brian?" Sonny spat with wide, horror-filled eyes.

"Hmm?" Brian finally glanced at Sonny, giving him a once-over before frowning.

Will was right. Sonny didn't even look anything like Brian remembered.

"Who is this, baby?" Leo wondered with pursed lips.

"Brian, he and I were – well, we were friends," Sonny answered, licking his lips. "And I thought you hated Will."

"Hated Will?" Brian laughed, giving Will a fond look, without having to fake a single emotion. "I never hated Will. Jealous and disliked, maybe. But that was what? Seven years ago? Ancient history, especially compared to the last few weeks."

Will smiled at Brian, standing ever so close.

"Oh, right, Brian, this is Leo, Sonny's – hmm – boyfriend. Leo, this is Dr. Brian James, my boyfriend."

Brian gave Leo an even more unimpressed look than the one he gave Sonny.

"How did – why did – what?" Sonny sputtered.

"Will and I are together," Brian answered with a confidence Will wouldn't have been able to muster. "It shouldn't be confusing. We reconnected at the hospital when he got hurt. And it was obvious our differences from before stemmed from our attraction to each other."

"What?!"

Brian gave Sonny a patronizing look, a look he once reserved for Will all those years ago and said, "I do think you should keep an eye on him, though."

Brian nodded toward Leo and his ostentatious Christmas-themed suit.

"You know, since it seems any man who was once interested in you ends up falling harder for Will in the end."

Sonny gaped, slack-jawed and unattractive.

"But, honestly, Sonny, what did you expect? For both of us to pine over you, after so long?" Brian rolled his eyes. "Will's gorgeous and I haven't been able to stay away."

Will was certain his face was going to erupt in flames.

"He certainly is," Karen interrupted, walking over with Jacob holding her hand. She gave Sonny and Leo judgmental glares. "Will is gorgeous and the perfect boyfriend."

"What?" Adrienne Kiriakis said, barging in on the conversation, putting her hand on Sonny's shoulder. "You're talking about Will? Will Horton?"

"I'm sorry, who are you?" Karen asked with a sharp smile and devious eyes.

"Adrienne Kiriakis," Adrienne answered, Justin hovering behind her. Looking as awkward and uncomfortable as Jacob did. "Will was once my son-in-law. So, trust me when I say there is nothing gorgeous or perfect about him."

Will fidgeted, eyes lowering as Brian and Karen bristled.

"Did anyone ask you?" Brian wondered with a scoff.

"Brian?" Adrienne asked with a frown, eyes taking in his positioning with Will. "What?"

"I'm sorry, I have to disagree," Karen insisted, holding her shoulders back with her head held high. "Will has been nothing but kind and generous. He's a marvelous father and a wonderful boyfriend. I've never seen my son happier and it's all because of Will."

Adrienne, with a great bit of difficulty, pulled her eyes away from the sight of Will and Brian. She huffed, clutching tighter to Sonny's shoulder.

"Well, you obviously have low expectations for your son."

Karen's eyes narrowed while Jacob swiped a cookie off the table.

Will and Brian both could have sworn he said, "this is gonna be good," before taking a large bite.

"My son put himself through medical school. He had his choice of residency locations. Now he lives in his wonderful boyfriend's perfect house with his equally amazing daughter. I sincerely doubt you want me to compare Will and Brian's profession with your son and his little friend's. Seeing as it's Christmas, and I would hate to make a scene, I'm going to have to ask you and yours to leave, immediately. You're holding up the line, impeding on business for Will's second, reputable profession."

Adrienne, Sonny, and even Leo looked stunned all while Justin tried to appease the situation and guided them all away.

"Oh and Sonny?" Brian called out as they motioned to leave. "I hope you're happy with your choice in partner. I know I certainly am. And don't worry, I'll tell Ari merry Christmas for you."

Will beamed at Brian, wanting nothing more in the world than to pull him into a kiss and never let him go.

"Sorry about that, boys," Karen said, shaking her neck around. "That woman just fired me up with her hypocrisy. I know I nag you, my Brian boy, but at least I cut you from the umbilical cord at birth."

"You didn't have to stand up for me," Will tried to say only for Brian and Karen to give him the same exasperated expression.

"There's no arguing with them, kid," Jacob slapped his back. "Best get back to serving people before all the desserts mysteriously disappear."

Jacob popped another cookie in his mouth and smiled.

* * *

"Okay," Will said as they all stood outside Marlena's front door. Will bouncing from foot to foot, giving Brian panicked looks every few seconds. "This might be a little awkward."

"Moreso than your ex-husband's mother making a scene at her grandchild's dance recital?" Jacob wondered.

"…possibly, yes," Will answered, giving Brian another panicked look before Brian took pity.

"Will's grandma –,"

"The one who works at the hospital?"

"Yeah, the man she's married to, well, his son is another of Will's ex's. This is gonna be the first time they've seen each other since the breakup. And, well, they're both bringing new boyfriend's home."

"I see," Jacob acknowledged. "At least, you've got Brian. That would be really awkward to come to this thing alone."

Will and Brian shared a smile before Will opened the front door.

They went through the usual introductions. Ari leading the way with her hand in Karen's, loudly introducing Brian as "Daddy's doctor boyfriend".

Marlena gave Will a tight squeeze and a kiss on the cheek, gazing at him and Brian with a fond look in her eyes.

At first, Will didn't even see Paul, something that wouldn't have happened before Will met Brian again. But, when Will did see Paul again, after so much time, he had to swallow down a large lump in his throat.

Paul was as handsome as ever, relaxed in a corner holding the hand of a man just as good looking. From his social media stalking, Will knew the man's name was Jeremy Stevens, a successful financier and part-time Instagram model. They met when Jeremy hired Paul to investigate a former employee and were inseparable since.

The two were disgustingly handsome and happy in every picture. In person was even worse.

But, Paul deserved it. Will never appreciated or loved him the way Paul deserved. Will loved him, he did. But, wasn't what Paul needed. Will was too much drama, too much work, too much effort.

Paul deserved someone as amazing as he was and if Will couldn't be that for him, he was glad Paul found someone that could.

Didn't mean he had to like looking at them together or that he wasn't envious. Sonny found happiness. Paul found happiness. And Will? Well, Will found someone to pretend to be his boyfriend so he wouldn't look pathetic and, pathetically, Will fell for him.

At least, no one needed to know that part.

Will sucked it up, knowing Paul deserved whatever humiliation he could give Will after everything, and said, "Paul, hi."

"…Will," Paul said after a few seconds of simply staring.

The man next to him, Jeremy, cleared his throat before holding out his hand, "I'm Jeremy, Paul's boyfriend."

He said it with more attitude than Will thought necessary but couldn't fault him.

"Nice to meet you," Will offered with a shy smile. He gestured to Brian, standing at his side. Will did a double take when he noticed the odd look on Brian's face. "This is –,"

"Dr. Brian James, Will's boy –," Brian introduced, sliding his left hand down Will's back to rest above the swell of his bottom.

"Boyfriend," Paul finished for him, blinking a few times, refusing to make eye contact with Jeremy when the man glared at him. "I saw on Instagram."

Brian, eyes narrowed, stuck his right hand out, shaking hands with Jeremy and then Paul.

Will didn't know what to make of the way Brian and Paul looked at one another. Hands squeezing the other's too tight, faces tense, and eyes hard.

Ari interrupted the staring contest.

"Daddy, can we get out the cookies yet I want to eat a – oh, hi, Paul – another cookie."

"Ari," Paul gasped, "you're so big."

"Duh," Ari teased before grabbing Will's hand and yanking, "you too, Brian."

"It was nice to see you," Will told Paul with a half-smile.

"You too," Paul whispered, eyes trailing after Will once he walked away.

* * *

The rest of the evening went well up until dessert. Paul and Jeremy were on one half of the large table and Will and Brian on the other during dinner. Sure, Jeremy seemed to coddle Paul, petting his face during any lull in the meal. Yes, Jeremy spoke at great length about how Tori adored him, the two shopping together and texting all the time. But, Will handled those things with little more than a furrowed brow.

Brian distracted him, pulling Will into a conversation or goading him into an argument. The two spent almost fifteen minutes bickering about the perfect consistency of mashed potatoes. Karen and Jacob helped as well. The two showing interest in everything Will had to say, cooing over Will's interactions with Ari, and engaging with Marlena and John.

It wasn't until dessert time that everything went to hell.

Will brought a peppermint cheesecake with a chocolate cookie crust, dealing with the usual amount of teasing from his family as expected when they discovered he made it himself.

At that point, everyone seemed to break off into smaller groups. Marlena, Belle, and Karen drifting off into the kitchen together. Jacob and John sitting on the couch watching a game with Shawn. Will and Brian delivered plates of dessert to everyone. Will cutting slices while Brian stood by his side, sticking his finger in the filling, causing Will to slap his hand.

The two giggling away while Paul and Jeremy watched from the other end of the dining room table. Jeremy doing all he could to drag Paul's attention back on him.

When Will, Brian not far from his side, offered the two a slice of cheesecake each, Jeremy eyed it with distaste when Will admitted to baking it.

"Really?" Paul asked, taking the plate and fork with a grin.

"Yes, trust me, I've heard all the jokes," Will insisted before Paul could make one. Watching when Paul immediately dug into it, letting out a pleased moan. A moan Will was once intimately familiar with.

"This is really good, wow," Paul praised after his first bite.

Brian, with a frown on his face, said, "everything he makes is delicious. I've been telling him it should be more than just a hobby."

"A hobby?" Jeremy said, refusing to eat any of his slice. "I thought his only hobby was breaking hearts and wrecking homes."

"Jer," Paul scolded immediately.

Will, crossing his arms around his waist, looked between Jeremy and Paul before sighing.

"Shut up," Brian spat.

"No," Jeremy huffed. "He's an idiot and needs to know exactly what he's been missing."

"I'm aware," Will stated with a bland tone. "And if I didn't, I think I got the hint when you hand fed Paul during dinner."

Brian, hand on Will's shoulder, added, "yeah, how'd that insecurity taste, by the way?"

"You would know," Jeremy insisted. "Like I haven't seen the glares you've been giving Paulie all night?"

"Excuse me?" Brian scoffed while Will mouthed the word Paulie.

"You heard me," Jeremy said, ignoring all the hissing Paul was doing in his direction. "I'd be jealous if I were you too. From everything I've heard, he's about three hours away from throwing himself at Paul. In fact, I'm surprised he even bothered to bring you. It's not like he cares if he has a boyfriend. All Paul's ever told me is how big of a sl–,"

Will moved in front of Brian's way before he lunged at Jeremy. Grabbing him around the waist and dragging him off all while Paul started yelling at Jeremy and everyone stared at them.

Will pulled Brian down a hall and into one of the spare rooms.

"Brian, stop it," Will insisted, tugging on his arms. "He isn't worth it."

"Yes, he is," Brian argued. "He needs a hard smack to his smart mouth. They both do. How can he say something like that? How could Paul?"

"Brian," Will said with a sad smile. "It's not like anything he said is untrue. My record pretty much speaks for itself."

"Will," Brian gave him a look, "shut up."

Will rolled his eyes but laughed.

"I don't need you fighting my battles for me. I can do that myself, if I wanted."

"Well, you shouldn't have to. You don't deserve to hear that and Paul shouldn't say shit like that about you to anyone, not if he loved you."

"Paul more than anyone deserves to say it. I hurt him more than anyone else ever had."

"So?" Brian crossed his arms. "If he loved you, he would want you to be happy, even if that meant you couldn't be together. I would know."

"You would know?" Will took a step back, surprised.

"I meant – uh – well," Brian fumbled to find the right words, looking at Will with wide, frightened eyes. "I just meant if I was in love with someone I'd be happy if they were happy."

"Oh," Will deflated, tiny bit of hope that Brian might feel the same as him slipping away.

"Look," Brian said, "I'm sorry everyone saw that but I'm not sorry for standing up for you. I couldn't let them talk to you that way."

"Thank you," Will answered, putting his hand on Brian's arm. "I mean it, I haven't had anyone stand up for me in a long time and you did it to Sonny and to this loser."

"I'd stand up for you to anyone," Brian admitted in a small voice.

Will licked his lips before smiling.

"You totally could have taken him."

"Oh, I so had him," Brian agreed. "Pretty boy would've freaked if my fist got anywhere near his face."

"Oh, yeah," Will nodded with a laugh. "What would his Insta followers think?"

Brian chuckled. Moving in closer toward Will when Will let out a burst of laughter and moved out of the way, never even knowing Brian was going to make a move. Brian scrunched his nose and sighed, following Will.

"I can't believe she actually got one," Will gushed, spotting a battered old organ. "Grandma told me she saw one of these at a yard sale and wanted to buy it. But she didn't tell me she went through with it."

"You know how to play?" Brian asked, joining Will at the stool in front of it.

"I used to, probably a little rusty," Will admitted. "You?"

"I took lessons when I was a kid but that was a long time ago."

It took Will a few minutes and several sour notes before he got his fingers working properly. He tickled the keys alone for a while before Brian joined him, the two banging out  _Heart and Soul_.

"I should get Ari lessons," Will said once they finished their song. "It might teach her some focus. She's got the attention span of a gnat."

"I noticed," Brian replied. "She'd look cute with her itty bitty fingers."

While they spoke, Will fiddled with the keys, trying a few chords before changing his mind. It took a while, but he finally smiled, proud.

It took Brian a few moments to recognize the song. Some modern Christmas song by that ridiculous acapella group Will enjoyed.

It brought Brian back to when he, Will, and Ari decorated their tree. Holding Ari by the waist so she could reach the higher branches. Watching Will bustle about, playing with the tinsel and pretending to wear the ornaments as earrings.

Feeling something inside himself settle in a way he never had before when all three sat on the couch when they finished. Basking in their hard work, Will's face aglow from the Christmas lights, Brian comfortable and happy, belonging.

This song was playing then and hearing Will play it now brought the same contentment in Brian. The same sense of belonging, happy and comfortable in a way he hadn't felt since he was a child.

Then Will started singing and his voice was not what Brian expected. Not perfect by any means, but with a raw talent Brian did not anticipate.

"I've got this Christmas song in my heart. I've got the candles glowing in the dark. I'm hanging all the stockings by the Christmas tree. Oh, why? 'Cause that's Christmas to me. Oh, why? 'Cause that's Christmas to me."

Will trailed off when he noticed Brian staring at him.

"What? Do I sound terrible or something?"

Brian shook his head, eyes still on Will.

"No, definitely not terrible. The opposite of terrible, in fact."

Will treated Brian to one of the softest smiles Brian had ever seen while he switched songs.

"Have yourself a merry little Christmas. Let your heart be light."

Will nudged him in the side until Brian got the hint and joined him.

"From now on your troubles will be out of sight."

The two harmonized, both forgetting the same words at the same time and making them up as they went.

They never even noticed Marlena and Karen standing in the doorway with matching grins on their faces.

* * *

"Do I have to go to sleep, Daddy?" Ari asked, clutching her covers to her chest.

"Yes," Will said, watching as she fought to keep her eyes open. "How else is Santa gonna bring your presents? He only comes to houses with sleeping little girls."

"But I don't wanna," Ari argued.

Will ran his hands over her scalp, singing softly to her. A few lullabies until her breathing evened off and she was out.

Will closed her door behind him while he hurried into the garage. If he wanted to get Santa's present in order before morning, he'd have to start now.

* * *

Fifteen or so minutes later, Will heard the garage door open. Brian was back from taking his parents to their hotel.

"Hey," Will greeted when he saw him. Admiring the view of Brian in his sweater once again.

"Hey," Brian echoed, sitting down on the floor and pulling a set of directions away from Will. "You're already putting this together wrong."

"Then you do it," Will complained but only half-heartedly. He wasn't the handiest of men and putting together a playhouse was definitely not in his skill set.

Brian corrected Will's mistakes, putting the plastic pieces of Ari's play house together in a way that made sense.

"So, what did they say?" Will asked, rising up to his knees.

"What did who say?" Brian said with a plastic screw in his mouth, focusing.

"Your mom and Jacob," Will rolled his eyes. "What did they say about me? Do they think we're a couple?"

Brian took a few minutes to respond. Remembering oh so clearly what they told him not a half hour before outside their hotel room.

("Oh, my Brian boy, I can't tell you how happy I am. I spent so many years worrying you'd never find anyone to love and here you've found two. Will is wonderful and Ari is an angel."

"Yeah, kid, I had my doubts but I've never seen you like this before. You really love that boy, don't you?")

"They definitely believe we're a couple," Brian settled on before sighing. "And considering my mom was fawning over you all day, you know she loves you. Whatever makes my mom happy makes Jacob happy but even he said you were great."

"Really?" Will asked, voice squeaking. "I mean, really? Like they met me and still think that?"

"Well, I'm starting to have my doubts," Brian mumbled, smiling when Will hit him. "Yes, Will, they love you. I'm pretty sure my mom would adopt you if she could. Now, stop distracting me."

"Fine," Will said, standing up and brushing off his knees. "I'll get the rest of the presents anyway."

Over the next hour, Will strategically placed presents under the Christmas tree. He took bites out of the special cookies Ari laid out for Santa and took a large gulp of milk. After helping Brian move the playhouse into the backyard, Will dragged Brian to the living room.

"I almost forgot," Will said as he shoved a few LOL toys in Ari's stocking as well as a few bags of candy. "I got you something."

Will rummaged through a bag before pulling out a red stocking with Brian's name written in clumsy sparkles.

"Ari wrote your name, in case you couldn't tell," Will explained as he hung the stocking next to his own. He took a step back and admired how fuller it made the mantle look, how complete.

"You got that for me?" Brian asked, fingertips brushing over the squiggly lines of his name.

"Yeah," Will answered with a shrug. "I mean, you live here, you're a part of us. Of course, you needed your own stocking."

Brian held perfectly still, eyes drifting between all three stockings, his name intertwined with Will and Ari's. Hanging above a fireplace, next to a tree he decorated, in a home he began to think of as his own.

"Will," Brian said after a long silence. "I don't think I can be your fake boyfriend anymore."

"What?" Will asked, facing Brian with his eyes as wide as saucers. "What do you mean? Brian, is this about the stocking? Because I can take it down."

"It's not the stocking," Brian turned to face Will. Watching his light blue eyes flicker to life with panic. "I love the stocking, I do. And that's the problem."

"I don't understand," Will admitted.

He thought tonight had gone well. It was one of the best holiday's he'd had in a long time. But he should have known that nothing ever lasted long for him. Just when Will found happiness, he always found a way to ruin it, always.

"What did I do wrong?" Will added.

Brian closed his eyes tight and shook his head.

"You didn't do anything. Okay, you didn't do anything wrong and that's the problem. You didn't do anything wrong but I did. This is just pretend. So my mom could get off my back and so you could – so you wouldn't be alone during the holidays. We aren't dating, not for real."

Will winced, arms winding around his waist.

"That's what I did wrong, Will. I know this is pretend but it feels real to me. I want it to be real."

"What?" Will asked, certain he misheard. There was no way Brian felt the same way he did.

"I don't want to be your fake boyfriend anymore. I can't. I couldn't stand it. I want to be your real boyfriend. I want to hold your hand and kiss the tip of your nose when it's red. And I want to crawl into bed with you at night and hold you close and shut you up with a kiss. I want to do all the things we already do but know it's real. Know I'm not the only one feeling this way. And I know you don't want to date me. I get it. I do. I'm sorry if this freaks you out but I can't keep pretending. This past month together has been amazing and I didn't mean to but I fell for you. You and Ari and this house and everything you have to offer. Okay, I love you and I'm sorry. I know this wasn't supposed to happen but I couldn't help myself. I love you and –,"

"Brian, shut up."

Will moved closer, close enough to slide his hands up Brian's impossibly soft sweater. Hands resting on his chest, leaning forward.

Brian didn't even have time to smile before Will tilted his head and lifted his toes, lips meeting in a gentle, perfect kiss.

"I haven't been pretending for a long time," Will admitted. "Since you moved in, maybe even before. I love you too."

Brian's lips spread into a dazzling white smile. Finally giving into a long-standing temptation and kissing the tip of Will's nose before joining their lips together again.

"Merry Christmas," Will whispered with his forehead pressed to Brian's.

"Merry Christmas," Brian repeated, capturing Will's lips again and again, angling them toward Will's bedroom.

Their soft, gentle kisses turned fierce. Brian biting and Will licking before Brian tossed Will onto the bed, laughing when Will let out a surprised grunt.

Brian crawled over Will's prone form with a wide grin, hand gliding under Will's shirt.

Will was content to let Brian shower him in attention for several minutes. Brian kissing any bit of Will he could reach. Facial hair scraping the delicate skin of Will's neck, throwing Will's shirt over his shoulder and mouthing up and down Will's chest and stomach.

When Brian pulled Will's jeans and underwear off, Will grabbed him by the shoulder and knocked him to the bed. Immediately pulling open Brian's shirt and groaning at the miles of exposed skin he could finally, finally touch.

Preoccupied with Brian's torso, laving at the deep lines in the side of his hips, Will grunted when Brian yanked him by his hair up for another kiss.

The two kissed and kissed while rolling around on the bed, each knocking the other over again and again. Battling Brian's belt and kicking his pants to the edge of the mattress. Then they were both naked and hard. Out of breath and covered in marks, Will's on his neck and Brian's along his hips.

They stared at each other, panting for a few seconds before lunging for the other again. Landing on their sides and holding the other close. Without needing to discuss it, Brian wrapped his large fist around both of their cocks. Will threw his leg over Brian's hip, getting closer. Foreheads pressed together, breath puffing against the other's lips. Brian jerking his fist up and down, the two gliding together with just enough precome to slick their way.

Will clung to Brian's shoulders, stifling his cries with Brian's mouth when a particular twist of Brian's fist sent him over the edge.

Brian didn't last too long after that, the feel of Will trembling against him, pulsing over his fingertips was enough to set him off.

Will swallowed Brian's moans, their tongues and lips moving together for what felt like hours afterward. The two sweaty and sticky yet neither moved.

It wasn't until the come clinging to Brian's hands grew viscous did they pull apart. Lips red and puffy, Will flushed down to his groin while Brian had the widest smile Will had ever seen.

"Should have done that a long time ago," Brian admitted, stealing another kiss before they rolled off the bed.

"Uh-huh," Will nodded, a little weak in the knees.

"I must have found another way to shut you up," Brian teased as Will shoved him through the bathroom doorway.

Will backed him toward the shower door, hands slipping and sliding along Brian's torso and hips. The two stumbled into the stall, Will turning on the water with one hand and using the other to pull Brian close.

"I think I know a pretty good way to keep you quiet myself," Will murmured when the water reached the perfect temperature.

Brian groaned when Will slid to his knees, fingernails scratching through the hair on Brian's thighs.

"I knew I loved you for a reason," Brian hissed before Will licked the head of his rapidly filling cock.

* * *

The two settled into bed, sated and tired. Brian's suitcase and overfilling clothes haphazardly thrown near Will's closet. Will snuggled into Brian's side, holding tight to his muscled forearm. Brian running his fingers through Will's hair.

"Do you think we'll ever tell anyone the truth?" Will asked, eyelashes fluttering against Brian's bare skin.

"God, no," Brian snorted. "My mom would be even more obsessed with you if she thought you were all sad and lonely and I wanted to lie to her to keep her off my back. Nope, no one is ever knowing we faked the past month."

"Well, I wouldn't say we faked the whole thing," Will replied. "You had to do something right to get me to fall in love with you."

Brian smiled to himself, soft and gentle before sighing.

"So, with that in mind, this might be a good time to tell you your Christmas present."

"Present?" Will perked up. "What present? What is it? I want it, now."

"You sound like Ari," Brian pointed out. Yet another thing about Will that should annoy him but he found charming instead. "And you can't really open it, open it."

"Oh," Will deflated, nuzzling back into Brian's chest. "What is it?"

Brian cleared his throat.

"Now, don't get mad but –,"

"What did you do?"

"When your baking was such a success at the recital, I might have texted the volunteer coordinator at the hospital."

"What does that mean?"

"It means you get to cater the desserts at the hospital fundraiser on New Year's Eve."

"Brian!" Will popped up, glaring down at his pushy, irresistible boyfriend. "Why do you keep –,"

"Will," Brian grabbed the back of Will's head, pulled him close, and whispered just before kissing him, "shut up."

**The End**

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to everyone who read/bookmarked/gave kudos. I appreciate the support. Hopefully I converted a few people over to the Will/Brian side of shipping.
> 
> I hope everyone has a happy holiday no matter what they celebrate and a happy New Year.

**Author's Note:**

> I always wanted to write for this ship and got inspired by the Christmas movie Mingle All the Way with Brant Daugherty and Jen Lilley. Also it took me half the movie to recognize him, I'm sad.
> 
> I hope to get this finished before Christmas so updates should be quick.


End file.
